Wedding of Christoph Friedrich Lösner(1) and Johanna Elisabeth Scherling (12 February 1725).

Poet unknown; PT (Leipzig, 1725), damaged; Facs: Neumann T, p. 388; Transcription, NBA I/33, Krit. Bericht.

1. Ecclus 39:27(=22 in English versions); 2. based on 1 Kg. 5:8-12; 3. based on Ezek. 47:1; 4. based on Exod. 15:25; 5. based on 1Kg. 10:11ff; 6. based on Gen. 2:11.

12 February 1725, Leipzig.

NBA I/33, Krit. Bericht.

Before the Vows

1. [Dictum] Chorus or Arioso

His blessing floweth forth like a stream, and waters the earth as with a great flood.

2. Recit.

The heav’nly windows open wide
With such unquenchable outpourings,
O happy pair, for that they thee
Through this example would be teaching
That midst thy love’s most holy sources
Shall ne’er a stone of care
Nor hindrance rise to bring obstruction
And do thee harm.
What then a prudent Hiram did,
Who from the Lebanon’s projecting mountains
Did timber masses float,
And his great fame to foreign shores thus brought,
This may, O honored Sir, thy wisdom do.
Thus ...(2)
So much lumber(3) bring forth
As thee will heaven's bliss (assure)
(And) now amidst thy joy
... (from) many breasts
... heav'nly sighs expressing,
... Highest, let them accomplish.

3. Aria

Blest thou, that at the welcome moment,
Forth from the altar's hallowed footings
A spring of endless water shoots.
So let thy Hallelujah echo
As all these streams well up about thee
Through which thy blessing richly flows.

Da Capo.

After the Vows

4. Arioso

A Marah(4) turns from thee with all its bitter sorrow,
For thee is charm's sweet milk and honey meant to be,
For Moses' gracious word can make a river issue
Which by the tree of life is thee today made sweet.

5. Recit.

(Pre)sent thyself, ... united pair,
... as a witness (here)
... Thee from God's own blessing's purpose
More precious treasure yet will issue,
Than there the sea from Ophir's(5) riches bore,
More than from the distant borders
Midst Solomon's own treasures lay,
This shall with thee abundantly be shining.

6. Aria

So come into this paradise,
Thou shalt the gilded treasure witness
Which Pishon's(6) waters bear within them.
They will by means of hallowed footpaths
Abundance of great blessing show thee.

Da Capo.

1. Lösner had by appointment of the King oversight over the flow of the rivers through Leipzig and the transport of lumber upon them. Each movement of the cantata is based, therefore, upon Biblical passages which deal with waters and timber.

2. From this line on on page 2 of the PT the text of the second movement is badly damaged and only partly legible. This translation is based upon the transcription in NBA I/33.

3. Perhaps "Stämme" refers as well to the offspring of the new marriage.

4. The name of this river means "bitterness."

5. Wherever the location of Ophir, it was thought of as a place abundant in gold.

6. The four rivers of Eden were Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates.

© Copyright Z. Philip Ambrose

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