BWV 3 — Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
Ach Gott indeed. The last few weeks have been intensely busy for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the first visit of my mother to the Madison area in three years, during which I hosted her at my apartment. I also received a visit from the stomach flu fairy. I promised myself I would make reeds this weekend and get a CP post up. I’m prioritizing you above REEDS, dear readers. That means a lot to an oboist.
I agree with Danny that the parts of the cantata that are easiest to get into musically are those for large forces. In my own course of development as a listener to vocal music, arias in general took longer to appreciate, whether appearing in, say, the Verdi requiem (one of the most overrated pieces I can think of) or in a Bach cantata. Naturally I found my in with Bach via the florid oboe lines that are so often the counterpoint to the vocal lines. An interesting thing to think about which is by no means unique to this cantata is the relative disparity in difficulty of the choral movements to the aria movements. This of course has its roots in Bach’s day job as a composer and cantor for the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Though his chorus would have been skilled, the soloists performing the arias would have been the best of the chorus members no doubt (I’m sure this information is actually published somewhere, but have you seen the Bach bibliography? Ain’t nobody got time for that). I’m told by singers that the arias in Bach’s vocal works are some of the most challenging stuff out there, requiring incredibly flexibility of voice to sing the agile and often melismatic passages and great stamina as opportunity for breathing is often lacking.
Regarding Danny’s question as to why Harnoncourt replaces BWV 3's first section with an aria from BWV 58, I can find no logical explanation. I have looked at all the material in both of the excellent Bach books I own pertaining to each cantata and done a quick Google search and no explanation is offered. If we exclude a simple mistake (probably not by Harnoncourt but by the record company), the most logical explanation I can think of is simple aesthetic preference. Certainly, Harnoncourt would have felt free to mix it up a bit as Bach commonly did, adjusting movements to the forces available for a given Sunday. Harnoncourt has written several books on the topic of Bach so the answers may be found in there.
Something else that strikes me as interesting about this cantata is that the music is remarkably upbeat and even peaceful for the subject matter (“Oh God, how much heartache!”). The first movement does have a fair bit of crunchy dissonance I suppose, but it’s pretty firmly in A major most of the time. I suppose the many suspensions would have signaled the pathos of the text to a baroque listener. Ultimately this question has more to do with the original composer of the tune, as it is clearly A major to begin with. Still, a composer of Bach’s skill could have easily made this much darker and one must wonder why he did not.
