{{Short description|Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{good article}} {{Infobox Bach composition | title = {{lang|de|Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg}} | bwv = 149 | type = Church cantata | image = GuidoReni MichaelDefeatsSatan.jpg | caption = ''Michael, the archangel'', by Guido Reni, Santa Maria della Concezione, Rome, 1636 | occasion = Feast of Saint Michael | performed = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1728|09|29|df=y}}/9|location=Leipzig}} | movements = 7 | text_poet = Picander | bible = {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Psalms|chapter=118|verse=15|range=–16}} | chorale = "{{lang|de|Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr|italic=no}}" | vocal = {{abbr|SATB|soprano, alto, tenor and bass}} choir and solo | instrumental = {{hlist | Trumpets | timpani | oboes | bassoon | strings }} }} '''{{lang|de|Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg}}''' ({{lit.}}: One sings with joy about victory), '''{{abbr|BWV|Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (catalogue of Bach's works)}}{{nbsp}}149''', is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the work in Leipzig for Michaelmas and first performed it in 1728 or 1729.<ref>[http://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000183?lang=en Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg BWV 149; BC A 181 / Sacred cantata (Michaelmas (29 September))] Bach Digital</ref> It is the last of his three extant cantatas for the feast.
Picander wrote the cantata's libretto, and published it in a 1728/29 cycle of cantata texts. The libretto opens with two verses from Psalm 118 and closes with the third stanza of Martin Schalling's "{{lang|de|Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr|italic=no}}". The topic of the libretto aligns with the prescribed readings for the day from the Book of Revelation, Michael fighting the dragon. The closing Lutheran hymn stanza writes about a "sweet little angel", accompanying a soul in anticipation of the Last Judgment.
The cantata has seven movements, and is scored festively with four vocal parts and a Baroque orchestra of three trumpets, timpani, three oboes, bassoon, strings and continuo. Bach derived the music of the opening chorus from his ''Hunting Cantata'', composed already in 1713. {{TOC limit|2}}
== History and text == Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for the feast of St. Michael (Michaelmas);<ref name="Anderson">{{cite book | last = Anderson | first = Michael | title = Les Grandes Cantates de J.S. Bach (Liner notes) | publisher = Erato Records | language = de }}</ref> it is his third and last of his extant cantatas for the feast, a feast celebrating the archangel and all angels.<ref name="Traupman-Carr">{{cite web |last=Traupman-Carr |first=Carol |url=http://www.bach.org/bwv149.php |access-date=27 January 2014 |title=Cantata BWV 149, Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg|publisher=The Bach Choir of Bethlehem |year=2002}}</ref><ref name="Hofmann" /> The prescribed readings for St. Michael's Day were from the Book of Revelation, Michael fighting the dragon ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Revelation|chapter=12|verse=7|range=–12}}), and from the Gospel of Matthew, heaven belongs to the children and the angels see the face of God ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Matthew|chapter=18|verse=1|range=–11}}).<ref name="Dürr">{{cite book | last = Dürr | first = Alfred | author-link = Alfred Dürr | title = Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach | year = 1981 | publisher = Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag | isbn = 3-423-04080-7 | volume = 1 | edition = 4 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/diekantatenvonjo0002durr/page/574 574–576] | language = de | url = https://archive.org/details/diekantatenvonjo0002durr/page/574 }}</ref> St. Michael, the archangel, has a prominent position in Lutheranism, as in Judaism.<ref name="Traupman-Carr" /> John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted all of Bach's church cantatas in 2000 on the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, notes that the Sanctus, composed for Christmas 1724 in close relation to the text by Isaiah, and much later integrated to Bach's Mass in B minor, shows the relevance of angels for Bach's Lutheranism.<ref name="Gardiner" />
The libretto was written by Christian Friedrich Henrici, better known as Picander, Bach began to work with him in 1725, and they collaborated notably on the major ''St Matthew Passion''. Picander wrote his cantata texts, including this one, with Bach as the composer in mind.<ref name="Gardiner" /> The poet included as the first movement two verses from a psalm ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Psalms|chapter=118|verse=15|range=–16}}) and as the closing chorale the third stanza of Martin Schalling's hymn "{{lang|de|Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr|italic=no}}". The Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann notes that battle scenes were often depicted in art and music. In the opening lines taken from a psalm, the battle of Michael against Satan is already won.<ref name="Hofmann" /> Satan is mentioned only in the first movement.<ref name="Mincham">{{cite web |last=Mincham |first=Julian |url=https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-44-bwv-149|title=Chapter 44 BWV 149 |access-date=3 September 2022 |website=The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach}}</ref> A focus of the later sequence of alternating arias and recitatives is on guardian angels seen as "holy watchmen".<ref name="Gardiner" /> The libretto was published in the 1728/29 year of his collection {{lang|de|Ernstschertzhaffte und satyrische Gedichte / Cantaten auf die Sonn- und Fest-Tage}}.<ref name="Oron">{{cite web | last = Oron | first = Aryeh | url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV149.htm | title=Cantata BWV 149 Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg | access-date=6 June 2013 | publisher=Bach Cantatas Website}}</ref> They appeared in quarterly volumes to help the congregation following the text.<ref name="Hofmann" />
Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance of the cantata in Leipzig on 29 September, either in 1728<ref name="Hofmann">{{cite web | last=Hofmann |first=Klaus |author-link=Klaus Hofmann |url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C50c%5BBIS-SACD1941%5D.pdf |title=Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg in den Hütten der Gerechten / (The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous), BWV 149 |publisher=Bach Cantatas Website |year=2011 |pages=5–8 |access-date=18 September 2015}}</ref> or 1729.<ref name="Traupman-Carr" />
== Scoring and structure == Bach structured the cantata in seven movements and scored it for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque orchestra of three trumpets (Tr), timpani (Ti), three oboes (Ob), two violins (Vl), violas (Va), bassoon (Fg), violone (Vo), and basso continuo (Bc).<ref name="Bischof">{{cite web | last = Bischof | first = Walter F. | url=http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/149.html | title=BWV 149 Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg| access-date=27 May 2013 | publisher=University of Alberta }}</ref> The title of the autograph score reads simply: "J.N.J. Festo Michaelis. / Man singet mit Freuden etc. di I.S.Bach."<ref name="Grob">{{cite web | last = Grob | first = Jochen | url = http://www.s-line.de/homepages/bachdiskographie/textkangeist/bwv149text.html | title = BWV 149 / BC A 120c | publisher = s-line.de | year = 2014 | language = de | access-date = 18 September 2015 | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304201545/http://www.s-line.de/homepages/bachdiskographie/textkangeist/bwv149text.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>
In the following table of the movements, the scoring and keys follow the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The time signature is provided using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
{{Classical movement header | show_text_source = yes | work = ''Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg'', BWV 149 | instruments1 = Brass | instruments2 = Woods | instruments3 = Strings}}.
{{Classical movement row | id = m1 | number = 1 | title = {{lang|de|Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg|italic=no}} | text_source = Psalm | type = Chorus | vocal = SATB | instruments1 = 3Tr Ti | instruments2 = 3Ob Fg | instruments3 = 2Vl Va | key = {{nowrap|D major}} | time = 3/8 }} {{Classical movement row | id = m2 | number = 2 | title = {{lang|de|Kraft und Stärke sei gesungen|italic=no}} | text_source = Picander | type = Aria | vocal = B | instruments1 = | instruments2 = | instruments3 = Vo | key = |B minor | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | id = m3 | number = 3 | title = {{lang|de|Ich fürchte mich|italic=no}} | text_source = Picander | type = Recitative | vocal = A | instruments1 = | instruments2 = | instruments3 = | key = | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | id = m4 | number = 4 | title = {{lang|de|Gottes Engel weichen nie|italic=no}} | text_source = Picander | type = Aria | vocal = S | instruments1 = | instruments2 = | instruments3 = 2Vl Va | key = A major | time = 3/8 }} {{Classical movement row | id = m5 | number = 5 | title = {{lang|de|Ich danke dir|italic=no}} | text_source = Picander | type = Recitative | vocal = T | instruments1 = | instruments2 = | instruments3 = | key = | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | id = m6 | number = 6 | title = {{lang|de|Seid wachsam, ihr heiligen Wächter|italic=no}} | text_source = Picander | type = Aria | vocal = A T | instruments1 = | instruments2 = Fg | instruments3 = | key = G major | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | id = m7 | number = 7 | title = {{lang|de|Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein|italic=no}} | text_source = Schalling | type = Chorale | vocal = SATB | instruments1 = 3Tr Ti | instruments2 = 3Ob Fg | instruments3 = 2Vl Va | key = C major | time = {{music|common-time}} }}
{{End}}
== Music ==
=== 1 === Bach based the music of the opening chorus, "{{lang|de|Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg|italic=no}}" (There are joyful songs of victory),<ref name="Dellal">{{cite web| last = Dellal | first = Pamela| author-link = Pamela Dellal | url = https://www.emmanuelmusic.org/bach-translations/bwv-149| title = BWV 149 – Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg | publisher = Emmanuel Music| access-date = 3 September 2022}}</ref> on the final movement of his secular Hunting Cantata, which had been his first cantata using "modern" recitatives and arias in 1713.<ref name="Gardiner">{{cite web | last = Gardiner | first = John Eliot | author-link = John Eliot Gardiner | url = http://www.monteverdi.co.uk/downloads/booklets/sdg124.pdf | title = Cantatas for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels / Unser lieben Frauen, Bremen | publisher = Monteverdi Choir | pages = 20 | year = 2006 | access-date = 29 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120427235315/http://www.monteverdi.co.uk/downloads/booklets/sdg124.pdf | archive-date = 27 April 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The polyphonic movement is described by Simon Crouch as being a "high-octane start".<ref name="Crouch">{{cite web |url=http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/149.php|access-date=27 May 2013|title=Cantata 149|website=Classical Net}}</ref> Gardiner notes that in comparison to earlier works for the same occasion, this movement is "festive rather than combative".<ref name="Gardiner" /> Bach reworked the earlier movement considerably to adjust from the court music context to joyful songs of victory: he replaced two horns with three trumpets and timpani, transposed the music from F major to D major, and expanded it "on every level", as Hofmann notes.<ref name="Hofmann" /> The beginning of a different setting of the text hints at the fact that the idea to use the early music as a base was not planned from the start.<ref name="Hofmann" />
=== 2 === The bass aria, "{{lang|de|Kraft und Stärke sei gesungen|italic=no}}" (Power and strength be sung),<ref name="Dellal" /> is accompanied by two low instrumental melodies.<ref name="Traupman-Carr" /><ref name="Mincham" /> It examines the conflict between God and Satan,<ref name="Gardiner" /> and includes a very active continuo to represent "the fury of the battle".<ref name="Traupman-Carr" /> The imagery of a "great voice", as mentioned in the Book of Revelation, is used, announcing the Lamb "that has defeated and banished Satan".<ref name="Gardiner" />
=== 3 === A short alto recitative, "{{lang|de|Ich fürchte mich vor tausend Feinden nicht|italic=no}}" (I don't fear thousand enemies),<ref name="Dellal" /> was described as "tonally unstable".<ref name="Traupman-Carr" />
=== 4 === The soprano aria, "{{lang|de|Gottes Engel weichen nie|italic=no}}" (God's angels never yield),<ref name="Dellal" /> is lyrical and dancing. The string accompaniment uses parallel thirds and sixths.<ref name="Traupman-Carr" /> It is stylistically similar to a minuet, and is formally an adapted ternary structure.<ref name="Mincham" />
=== 5 === The tenor recitative, "{{lang|de|Ich danke dir|italic=no}}" (I thank You),<ref name="Dellal" /> ends with an ascending phrase meant to represent an appeal to heaven.<ref name="Mincham" />
=== 6 === The duet aria for alto and tenor, "{{lang|de|Seid wachsam, ihr heiligen Wächter|italic=no}}" (Be wakeful, you holy watchers),<ref name="Dellal" /> employs canon technique and a repeated interrupted cadence.<ref name="Mincham" /> Its introduction has been described as "the most athletic of bassoon lines".<ref name="Crouch" /> The tenor and alto voices repeat the opening bassoon figure in canon.<ref name="Dürr" />
=== 7 === The work ends with a harmonically complex four-part setting of the chorale, "{{lang|de|Ach, Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein|italic=no}}" (Ah, Lord, let Your dear little angel).<ref name="Dellal" /><ref name="Traupman-Carr" /> It is a prayer to be sent an angel to carry the soul in Abraham's Bosom, and a promise to praise God eternally. Bach's setting is remarkable for its final two bars: the trumpets and timpani create a "magnificent blaze of sound".<ref name="Anderson" /> Bach chose the same stanza of Schalling's chorale to end his ''St John Passion'', in the work's first and last version.<ref name="Dürr" />
== Publication == The cantata was first published in 1884 in the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA).
== Recordings ==
The table is excerpted from the listing on the Bach Cantatas Website.<ref name="Oron" /> Ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked by green background.
{{Cantata discography header|work=''Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg'', BWV 149 |instruments=<abbr title="Instruments type">Instr.</abbr> }}
{{Cantata discography row | id = Werner | title = {{lang|fr|Les Grandes Cantates de J.S. Bach Vol. 17}} | conductor = {{sortname|Fritz|Werner}} | choir = Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn | orchestra = Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra | soloists = {{plainlist| * Agnes Giebel * Claudia Hellmann * Georg Jelden * Erich Wenk }} | label = Erato Records | year = {{Start date|1964}} | orchestra_type = Chamber }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Gönnenwein | title = ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 126 & BWV 149'' | conductor = {{hs|Gönnenwein, Wolfgang}} {{nowrap|Wolfgang Gönnenwein}} | choir = Süddeutscher Madrigalchor | orchestra = Consortium Musicum | soloists = {{plainlist| * Elly Ameling * Janet Baker * Theo Altmeyer * Hans Sotin }} | label = EMI | year = {{Start date|1967}} | orchestra_type = Chamber }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Rilling | title = {{lang|de|Die Bach Kantate Vol. 32}} | conductor = {{sortname|Helmuth|Rilling}} | choir = Gächinger Kantorei | orchestra = Bach-Collegium Stuttgart | soloists = {{plainlist| * Arleen Augér * Mechthild Georg * Aldo Baldin * {{nowrap|Philippe Huttenlocher}} }} | label = Hänssler | year = {{Start date|1984}} | orchestra_type = }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Leusink | title = ''Bach Edition Vol. 20 – Cantatas Vol. 9'' | conductor = {{sortname|Pieter Jan|Leusink}} | choir = Holland Boys Choir | orchestra = Netherlands Bach Collegium | soloists = {{plainlist| * Ruth Holton * Sytse Buwalda * Knut Schoch * Bas Ramselaar }} | label = Brilliant Classics | year = {{Start date|1999}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Gardiner | title = ''Bach Cantatas Vol. 7: Ambronay / Bremen / For the 14th Sunday after Trinity / For the Feast of St Michael and All Angels'' | conductor = {{sortname|John Eliot|Gardiner}} | choir = {{plainlist| * Monteverdi Choir * Choir of Clare * Choir of Trinity College }} | orchestra = English Baroque Soloists | soloists = {{plainlist| * Malin Hartelius * Richard Wyn Roberts * James Gilchrist * Peter Harvey }} | label = Soli Deo Gloria | year = {{Start date|2000}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Koopman | title = ''J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 20'' | conductor = {{sortname|Ton|Koopman}} | orchestra = Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir | soloists = {{plainlist| * Sandrine Piau * Bogna Bartosz * Christoph Prégardien * Klaus Mertens }} | label = Antoine Marchand | year = {{Start date|2003}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Suzuki | title = ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 50 – Man singet mit Freuden, Cantatas · 49 · 145 · 149 · 174 (Cantatas from Leipzig 1726–29)'' | conductor = {{sortname|Masaaki|Suzuki}} | orchestra = Bach Collegium Japan | soloists = {{plainlist| * Hana Blažíková * Robin Blaze * Gerd Türk * Peter Kooy }} | label = BIS | year = {{Start date|2011}} | orchestra_type = Period }}
{{End}}
== See also == * BWV 149/1a, formerly BWV Anh. 198 – "Concerto", an abandoned sketch for an alternative setting of the Cantata's opening movement?<ref>[http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001509 "Concerto" (beginning of a cantata, D) BWV Anh. 198 = BWV 149/1a (BWV 1998); BC A 182] at {{url|www.bachdigital.de}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== Sources == * {{IMSLP2|work=Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg, BWV 149 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)|cname=Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg, BWV 149}} * [https://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV149.html BWV 149 Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg]: English translation, University of Vermont * Luke Dahn: [https://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0149_7.htm BWV 149.7] bach-chorales.com
{{Bach's third cantata cycle and later}} {{Bach cantatas}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg'', BWV 149}} Category:Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Category:Psalm-related compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach Category:1728 compositions Category:1729 compositions