{{Short description|Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{good article}} {{Infobox Bach composition | name = {{lang|de|Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe}} | bwv = 185 | type = Church cantata | image = Schlosskirche Weimar 1660.jpg | caption = The ''Schlosskirche'' in Weimar | occasion = Fourth Sunday after Trinity | performed = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1715|07|14|df=y}}|location=Weimar}} | movements = 6 | text_poet = Salomon Franck | chorale = by Johannes Agricola | vocal = {{abbr|SATB|soprano, alto, tenor and bass}} soloists and choir | instrumental = {{hlist | oboe | 2 violins | viola | continuo with bassoon }} }} Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata '''{{lang|de|Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe}}''' (Merciful heart of eternal love),<ref name="Dellal" /> '''{{abbr|BWV|Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (catalogue of Bach's works)}}{{nbsp}}185''' in Weimar for the fourth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 14 July 1715.
Bach composed the cantata as concertmaster in Weimar, responsible for one church cantata per month. The text was written by the court poet Salomon Franck for the occasion and published in 1715. He included as the closing choral the first stanza of Johannes Agricola's hymn "{{lang|de|Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ|italic=no}}". The cantata is structured in six movements and begins with a duet, followed by a sequence of alternating arias and recitatives and closed by a four-part chorale. It is scored for a small ensemble of four vocal parts, oboe, strings and continuo.
Bach led the first performance in the court chapel of Schloss Weimar on 14 July 1715. He performed the cantata again, with small instrumental revisions, at the beginning of his tenure as {{lang|de|Thomaskantor}} in Leipzig, coupled with the new cantata {{lang|de|''Ein ungefärbt Gemüte'', BWV 24 |italic=unset}}. {{TOC limit|3}}
== History and words == {{for|details on Bach's promotion|Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172#Background}} {{for|the series of monthly cantatas|O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad, BWV 165 #Monthly cantatas from 1714 to 1715}}
On 2 March 1714 Bach was appointed concertmaster of the Weimar court capelle of the co-reigning dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. As concertmaster, he assumed the principal responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the {{lang|de|Schlosskirche|italic=noj}}<ref name="Dürr" /> (palace church), on a monthly schedule.<ref name="Koster" /> He wrote this cantata for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity.<ref name="Dürr" />
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Romans, "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God" ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Romans|chapter=8|verse=18|range=–23}}), and from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Luke: the injunctions to "be merciful", "judge not" ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Luke|chapter=6|verse=36|range=–42}}). The cantata text was written by the court poet Salomon Franck for the occasion and published in 1715 in {{lang|de|Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer}}.<ref name="Dürr"/> Franck stayed close to the theme of the gospel, recalling the injunctions and the parables of the mote and the beam and the blind leading the blind.<ref name="Dürr"/> The last aria summarizes the admonitions as "{{lang|de|Das ist der Christen Kunst|italic=no}}" (This is the Christians' art).<ref name="Dellal" /> The cantata is closed by the first stanza of Johannes Agricola's hymn "{{lang|de|Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ|italic=no}}" (1531).<ref name="Dürr" /> Albert Schweitzer criticized the libretto as "bland, lesson-like".<ref name="Gardiner" />
Bach first performed the cantata on 14 July 1715. He dated it himself "1715".<ref name="Dürr" /> When Bach performed the cantata again in Leipzig on 20 June 1723, he transposed it from F-sharp minor to G minor and made changes to the instrumentation.<ref name="Isoyama" /> In that service, his fourth in Leipzig, he performed it together with a new cantata {{lang|de|''Ein ungefärbt Gemüte'', BWV 24 |italic=unset}}, after he had started his tenure as cantor with cantatas in two parts, {{lang|de|''Die Elenden sollen essen'', BWV 75 |italic=unset}}, and {{lang|de|''Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes'', BWV 76 |italic=unset}}.<ref name="Mincham" /> He treated the same chorale in the chorale cantata {{lang|de|''Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ'', BWV 177 |italic=unset}}, for the same occasion in 1724. Bach revived the cantata once more in 1746 or 1747.<ref name="Isoyama" />
== Music == === Structure and scoring === Bach structured the cantata in six movements, beginning with a duet, followed by a series of alternating recitatives and arias and concluded by a chorale.<ref name="Ambrose" /> Similar to several other cantatas on words by Franck, it is scored for a small ensemble: four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), oboe (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo (Bc) including bassoon (Fg).<ref name="Bischof" /> A choir is only needed for the chorale, if at all. The score, partly an autograph, is titled "Concerto. / Dominica post Trinit: / Brmhertziges Hertze der ewigen Liebe. ect. / â 5 Strom. 4 Voci / Tromba / 1 Hautb 2 Violini. 1 Viola. / Violoncello / è Fagotto. S. A. T. è Baßo con Cont. / di JSbach. / 1715", while "tromba" (trumpet) is struck in the cover of the set of parts.<ref name="Grob" />
In Leipzig the oboe was replaced by a clarino (trumpet) for the instrumental cantus firmus of the chorale in the first movement. The duration is given as 16 minutes.<ref name="Dürr" />
In the following table of the movements, the scoring and keys are given for the version performed in Weimar in 1714. The keys and time signatures are taken from the Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4).<ref name="Dürr" /><ref name="Bischof" /> The instruments are shown separately for winds and strings, while the continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
{{Classical movement header | show_text_source = yes | work = ''Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe'' | instruments1 = Winds | instruments2 = Strings }} {{Classical movement row | number = 1 | title = {{lang|de|Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe|italic=no}} | text_source = Franck | type = Duet | vocal = S T | instruments1 = Ob | instruments2 = | key = {{nowrap|F-sharp minor}} | time = 6/4 }} {{Classical movement row | number = 2 | title = {{lang|de|Ihr Herzen, die ihr euch in Stein und Fels verkehret|italic=no}} | text_source = Franck | type = Recitative | vocal = A | instruments1 = Fg | instruments2 = 2Vl Va | key = | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | number = 3 | title = {{lang|de|Sei bemüht in dieser Zeit|italic=no}} | text_source = Franck | type = Aria | vocal = A | instruments1 = Ob Fg | instruments2 = 2Vl Va | key = A major | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | number = 4 | title = {{lang|de|Die Eigenliebe schmeichelt sich|italic=no}} | text_source = Franck | type = Recitative | vocal = B | instruments1 = Fg | instruments2 = | key = | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | number = 5 | title = {{lang|de|Das ist der Christen Kunst|italic=no}} | text_source = Franck | type = Aria | vocal = B | instruments1 = Fg | instruments2 = (2Vl Va) | key = B-flat minor | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | number = 6 | title = {{lang|de|Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ|italic=no}} | text_source = Agricola | type = Chorale | vocal = SATB | instruments1 = Ob Fg | instruments2 = 2Vl Va | key = F-sharp minor | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{End}}
=== Movements === ==== 1 ==== thumb|John Eliot Gardiner in 2007 The opening movement is a duet of soprano and tenor, "{{lang|de|Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe|italic=no}}" (Compassionate heart of eternal love).<ref name="Dürr" /> It is in two ways connected to the chorale which closes the work.<ref name="Dürr" /> The melody is played line by line as a {{lang|la|cantus firmus}} by the oboe, embellished and in a dancing 6/4 time instead of 4/4.<ref name="Mincham" /> The first interval in the voices and the continuo is the same as in the chorale. The countersubject is the inversion of the theme, in German "{{lang|de|Spiegelung|italic=no}}" (reflection in a mirror). It reflects the theme as human mercy should reflect divine mercy.<ref name="Dürr" /> John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage with the Monteverdi Choir in 2000, comments in his diary of the project: "Cast as a siciliano for soprano and tenor with cello continuo, there is a warm glow to this opening duet, with trills on each of the main beats to signify the flickering flame of love, and a plea to 'come melt my heart'. Agricola's chorale tune [...] is meanwhile intoned by a clarino hovering above the two amorous vocal lines.<ref name="Gardiner" />
==== 2 ==== The alto recitative, "{{lang|de|Ihr Herzen, die ihr euch in Stein und Fels verkehret|italic=no}}" (You hearts, which have changed yourselves into rocks and stones),<ref name="Dellal" /> is first accompanied by the strings, but ends as an arioso with continuo.<ref name="Mincham" />
==== 3 ==== The alto aria, "{{lang|de|Sei bemüht in dieser Zeit|italic=no}}" (Be inspired at the present time)<ref name="Dellal" /> shows the richest instrumentation, with figurative oboe solos.<ref name="Mincham" />
==== 4 ==== The bass recitative "{{lang|de|Die Eigenliebe schmeichelt sich!|italic=no}}" (Self-love flatters itself!)<ref name="Dellal" /> is accompanied only by the continuo.<ref name="Dürr" />
==== 5 ==== The text of the bass aria with continuo, "{{lang|de|Das ist der Christen Kunst|italic=no}}" (This is the Christian's art),<ref name="Dellal" /> summarizes all injunctions in one long sentence, but Bach splits it in parts, all introduced by the keywords "{{lang|de|Das ist der Christen Kunst|italic=no}}". The bass as the {{lang|la|vox Christi}} (voice of Christ) delivers the "sermon".<ref name="Dürr" /> In Leipzig, the continuo of cello and bass in octaves was doubled by the strings, another octave higher.<ref name="Mincham" /> Gardiner admires Bach's treatment as a "gentle, parodistic way he portrays the rhetorical displays of a pompous preacher".<ref name="Gardiner" />
==== 6 ==== The closing chorale, "{{lang|de|Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ|italic=no}}" (I call to You, Lord Jesus Christ),<ref name="Dellal" /> summarizes the topic of the cantata to love and serve the neighbour. {{verse translation |lang=de |1 = Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, ich bitt, erhör mein Klagen, verleih mir Gnad zu dieser Frist, laß mich doch nicht verzagen den rechten Weg, o Herr, ich mein, den wollest du mir geben, dir zu leben, mein'n Nächsten nütz zu sein, dein Wort zu halten eben. |2=I call to You, Lord Jesus Christ, I beg You, hear my cries, grant me mercy at this time, do not let me despair; the true faith, Lord, I mean that You would give me, to live for You, to be of use to my neighbor, to keep Your word faithfully.<ref name="Dellal" /> }} It is illuminated by a "soaring" violin as a fifth part,<ref name="Mincham" /> similar to the treatment in the cantata for Pentecost the previous year, {{lang|de|''Erschallet, ihr Lieder'', BWV 172 |italic=unset}}.
=== Reception === The musicologist Isoyama summarizes: "... we are bound to admire the emotional wealth with which Bach's music infuses the poetry. In that it gives living reality to a potentially dry text, this work may be numbered among Bach's masterpieces".<ref name="Isoyama" />
== Recordings == The listing is taken from the selection provided on the Bach Cantatas Website.<ref name="Oron" /> Ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performance are marked by green background.
{{Cantata discography header|work=''Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe'' |show_orchestra_type=yes }}
{{Cantata discography row | id = Rilling | title = {{lang|de|Die Bach Kantate Vol. 42}} | conductor = {{sortname|Helmuth|Rilling}} | choir = {{nowrap|Frankfurter Kantorei}} | orchestra = Bach-Collegium Stuttgart | soloists = {{plainlist| * Arleen Augér * Hildegard Laurich * Aldo Baldin * Philippe Huttenlocher }} | label = Hänssler | year = {{Start date|1976}} | orchestra_type = Chamber }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Leonhardt | title = ''J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 10'' | conductor = {{sortname|Gustav|Leonhardt}} | choir = {{plainlist| * Tölzer Knabenchor * Collegium Vocale Gent }} | orchestra = Leonhardt-Consort | soloists = {{plainlist| * boy soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor * Paul Esswood * Kurt Equiluz * Thomas Hampson }} | label = Teldec | year = {{Start date|1989}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Koopman | title = ''J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 1'' | conductor = {{sortname|Ton|Koopman}} | orchestra = Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir | soloists = {{plainlist| * Barbara Schlick * Kai Wessel * Guy de Mey * Klaus Mertens }} | label = Antoine Marchand | year = {{start date|1994}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Suzuki | title = ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 4'' | conductor = {{sortname|Masaaki|Suzuki}} | orchestra = Bach Collegium Japan | soloists = {{plainlist| * Midori Suzuki * Akira Tachikawa * Makoto Sakurada * {{nowrap|Stephan Schreckenberger}} }} | label = BIS | year = {{Start date|1999}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Leusink | title = ''Bach Edition Vol. 2 – Cantatas Vol. 6'' | 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. 3: Tewkesbury/Mühlhausen / For the 4th Sunday after Trinity / For the 5th Sunday after Trinity'' | conductor = {{sortname|John Eliot|Gardiner}} | choir = Monteverdi Choir | orchestra = English Baroque Soloists | soloists = {{plainlist| * Magdalena Kožená * Nathalie Stutzmann * Paul Agnew * Nicolas Testé }} | label = Soli Deo Gloria | year = {{Start date|2000}} | orchestra_type = Period }}
{{End}}
== References == {{reflist | 30em | refs =
<ref name="Ambrose">{{cite web | last = Ambrose | first = Z. Philip | url = http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV185.html | title = BWV 185 Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe | publisher = University of Vermont | access-date = 28 June 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="Bischof">{{cite web | last = Bischof | first = Walter F. | url = http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/185.html | title = BWV 185 Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe | publisher = University of Alberta | access-date = 28 June 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="Dellal">{{cite web | last = Dellal | first = Pamela | author-link = Pamela Dellal | url = https://www.emmanuelmusic.org/bach-translations/bwv-185 | title = BWV 185 – Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe | publisher = Emmanuel Music | access-date = 7 September 2022 }}</ref>
<ref name="Dürr">{{cite book | last1 = Dürr | first1 = Alfred | last2 = Jones | first2 = Richard D. P. | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m9JuwslMcq4C&pg=PA415 | title = The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2006 | pages = 415–418 | isbn = 9780199297764 }}</ref>
<ref name="Gardiner">{{Cite AV media notes | last = Gardiner | first = John Eliot | author-link = John Eliot Gardiner | url = https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_SDG141 | title = Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 24, 71, 88, 93, 131, 177 & 185 (Cantatas Vol 3) | publisher = Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website) | year = 2008 | access-date = 11 August 2018 }}</ref>
<ref name="Grob">{{cite web | last = Grob | first = Jochen | url = http://www.s-line.de/homepages/bachdiskographie/textkangeist/bwv185_Fassung%201715text.html | title = BWV 185 / BC A 101 | publisher = s-line.de | year = 2014 | language = de | access-date = 20 February 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203338/http://www.s-line.de/homepages/bachdiskographie/textkangeist/bwv185_Fassung%201715text.html | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Isoyama">{{cite web | last = Isoyama | first = Tadashi | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C04c%5BBIS-CD801%5D.pdf | title = BWV 185: Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe (Merciful heart of eternal love) | publisher = Bach Cantatas Website | year = 1998 | access-date = 27 June 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="Koster">{{cite web | last = Koster | first = Jan | url = http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/weimar2.html | title = Weimar 1708–1717 | publisher = let.rug.nl | access-date = 16 December 2011 | archive-date = 28 March 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140328175204/http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/weimar2.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Mincham">{{cite web | last = Mincham | first = Julian | url = https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-6-bwv-185 | title = Chapter 6 BWV 185 Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe | year = 2010 | access-date = 7 September 2022 | publisher = jsbachcantatas.com }}</ref>
<ref name="Oron">{{cite web | last = Oron | first = Aryeh | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV185.htm | title = Cantata BWV 185 Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe | publisher = Bach Cantatas Website | year = 2015 | access-date = 23 June 2015 }}</ref>
}}
== Sources == * {{IMSLP2|work=Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe, BWV 185 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)|cname=Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe, BWV 185}} * [http://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000224?lang=en Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe BWV 185; BC A 101 / Sacred cantata (4th Sunday after Trinity)], Bach Digital * Luke Dahn: [http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0185_6.htm BWV 185.6] bach-chorales.com
== External links == * [http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-185/ Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe, BWV 185]: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)
{{Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{Bach cantatas}}
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Category:Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Category:1715 compositions Category:Libretti by Salomon Franck