{{Short description|Aria from a church cantata formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach}} [[File:BWV53 Melchior Hoffmann.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|Pages 3–4 of the aria ''"Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde"''. Manuscript copy, 1780, Berlin State Library. The campanella bells are marked on the top stave.]] '''''{{lang|de|Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde}}''''' (''Haste to strike, oh longed for hour''), BWV 53, is an aria for alto, bells, strings and continuo. It was likely composed in the early 18th century, although its date of first performance is unknown. From the second half of the 18th century until the early 1950s the aria was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1955, it was suggested by the Bach scholar Karl Anton that the aria's composer was more likely to be a member of Melchior Hoffmann's circle.
The aria was likely part of an otherwise lost church cantata for a funeral. The aria was first published in 1863, by the Bach Gesellschaft. It is one of three works to have been attributed to Bach before being attributed to Hoffmann, the others being the German Magnificats BWV 189 and BWV Anh. 21. It is one of the oldest known western compositions in which tuned bells are used in concert with other musical instruments.
== History and attribution ==
The cantata has often been attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. However, Alfred Dürr did not include it in his 1971 book ''Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach'', based on the ''Bach-Jahrbuch 1955''.<ref name=anton>{{cite book|last=Anton|first=Karl|author-link = :de:Karl Anton (Theologe)|year = 1956 |chapter = Neue Erkenntnisse zur Geschichte der Bachbewegung |chapter-url = https://doi.org/10.13141/bjb.v19551485 |editor1-last = Dürr |editor1-first = Alfred |editor1-link = Alfred Dürr |editor2-last = Neumann |editor2-first = Werner |editor2-link = Werner Neumann (musicologist) |title = Bach-Jahrbuch 1955|url = https://journals.qucosa.de/bjb/issue/view/116 |series = Bach-Jahrbuch |language = de |volume = 42 |others = Neue Bachgesellschaft|publisher = Evangelische Verlagsanstalt |doi = 10.13141/bjb.v1955|page=15 (footnote 9)}}</ref> In the Appendix of the subsequent English version of the 2006 book on Bach's cantatas with Richard D. P. Jones, BWV 53 appears amongst the spurious cantatas. In that Appendix, the entry for 'composer' is listed as Melchior Hoffmann, accompanied by a question mark.<ref name=jones>{{cite book| last1 = Dürr| first1 = Alfred| last2 = Jones| first2 = Richard D. P.| author2-link= Richard D. P. Jones| author-link = Alfred Dürr| title = The Cantatas of J. S. Bach and Their Librettos in German–English Parallel Text| publisher = Oxford University Press| year = 2006| isbn = 0199297762| page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=m9JuwslMcq4C&pg=PA926 926] | chapter = Appendix: dubious and spurious cantatas}}</ref>
According to Johann Nikolaus Forkel, the aria was composed by a young Bach, which would mean around the first decade of the 18th century.<ref name=forkel>{{cite book |last=Forkel |first=Johann Nikolaus |author-link=Johann Nikolaus Forkel |year=1802 |title=Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke: Für patriotische Verehrer echter musikalischer Kunst |language=de |publisher=Hoffmeister & Kühnel |pages=61–62}}</ref><ref name=ft>{{cite book |last1=Forkel |first1=Johann Nikolaus |author-link1=Johann Nikolaus Forkel |last2=Terry |first2=Charles Sanford |author-link2=Charles Sanford Terry (historian) |year=1920 |title=Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art and Work – translated from the German, with notes and appendices |publisher=Harcourt, Brace and Howe |page=[https://archive.org/details/johannsebastian01terrgoog/page/n187 140]}}</ref> Philipp Spitta, in his multi-volume Bach biography in the second half of the 19th century, thought that Bach wrote the aria in his middle Leipzig period, that is around the middle of the 1723–1750 period, when he would also have written other chamber cantatas for private performance, most of them solo cantatas.<ref name=spitta84>{{cite book |last = Spitta |first = Philipp|author-link = Philipp Spitta |translator-last1 = Bell |translator-first1 = Clara |translator-link1 = Clara Bell |translator-last2 = Fuller Maitland |translator-first2 = John Alexander |translator-link2 = John Alexander Fuller Maitland|year = 1884 |chapter = Book V: Leipzig, 1723–1734 |chapter-url = https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastia02spit#page/181/mode/1up |title = Johann Sebastian Bach: his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685–1750 |volume = II|publisher = Novello & Co|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastia02spit#page/474 474]–[https://archive.org/stream/johannsebastia02spit#page/477 477]}}</ref><ref name=spitta21>{{cite book |last = Spitta|first = Philipp|author-link = Philipp Spitta |year = 1921|orig-year = 1880 |chapter = Fünftes Buch. Leipziger Jahre von 1723–1734|chapter-url = https://archive.org/stream/johsebbach02spit#page/n20/mode/1up |title= Johann Sebastian Bach |language = de |volume = II |edition = 3rd |publisher = Breitkopf & Härtel|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/johsebbach02spit#page/303 303–306]}}</ref> According to Charles Sanford Terry, Bach composed the aria between 1723 and 1734.<ref name=ft/> Biographers in the late 19th and early 20th century attributing the work to Bach include Bitter<ref>{{cite book|last = Bitter|first = Karl Hermann |author-link = Karl Hermann Bitter |year = 1865 |title = Johann Sebastian Bach |url= http://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10600016-5 |language = de |volume= II|publisher = Schneider |page = [https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10600016?page=486 XCVI]}}</ref> and Schweitzer.<ref name=schweitzer>{{cite book |last = Schweitzer |first = Albert |author-link = Albert Schweitzer |translator-last1 = Newman |translator-first1 = Ernest |translator-link1 = Ernest Newman|year = 1935 |title = J. S. Bach |url = https://archive.org/details/jsbachsc02schwuoft |volume = II |edition = Reprint |publisher = A. & C. Black|page=[https://archive.org/details/jsbachsc02schwuoft/page/253 253]}}</ref> In 1950, Wolfgang Schmieder listed the aria as No. 53 in the first edition of the ''Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis'' (BWV).<ref name=kobayashi>{{cite book |year=1998 |editor1-last=Dürr |editor1-first=Alfred |editor1-link=Alfred Dürr |editor2-last=Kobayashi |editor2-first=Yoshitake |title=Bach Werke Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe – Nach der von Wolfgang Schmieder vorgelegten 2. Ausgabe |trans-title=Bach Works Catalogue: Small Edition – After Wolfgang Schmieder's 2nd edition |language=de |others=Kirsten Beißwenger (collaborator) |edition=BWV<sup>2a</sup> |publisher=Breitkopf & Härtel |isbn=9783765102493 |url=https://www.bachmidi.info/kbook.html#contents |archive-date=2021-01-13 |access-date=2021-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113151924/https://www.bachmidi.info/kbook.html#contents |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1761, Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf offered manuscript copies of the aria in a catalogue printed for the Michaelmas fair in Leipzig. This catalogue does not name the composer.<ref name=spitta84/><ref name=spitta21/><ref name=ebata18>{{cite web|url=https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_Source_00004432?lang=en|editor=Ebata, Nobuaki|date=9 September 2018|title= Lost source: BWV 53, Breitkopf|website=Bach Digital}}</ref><ref name=breitkopf>{{cite book |last = Breitkopf |first = Johann Gottlob Immanuel|author-link = Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf|year= 1761 |title = Verzeichniß Musicalischer Werke, allein zur Praxis, sowohl zum Singen, als für alle Instrumente, welche nicht durch den Druck bekannt gemacht worden; in ihre gehörige Classen ordentlich eingetheilet; welche in richtigen Abschriften bey Joh. Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf in Leipzig ... zu bekommen sind|url = http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0001501900000000 |language = de|publisher = Breitkopf|page = 23}}</ref> Johann Kirnberger added this copy to the {{lang|de|Amalienbibliothek}} – the library of his employer Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia.<ref name=ebata19>{{cite web|url=https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_Source_00025183?lang=en|editor=Ebata, Nobuaki|date=16 July 2019|title= D-B Am.B 43, Fascicle 2|website=Bach Digital}}</ref> Wilhelm Rust's edition of ''Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde'', as Cantata No. 53 in Vol. 12.2 of the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA), published in 1863, was based on the {{lang|de|Amalienbibliothek}} copy.<ref name=rust>{{cite book |year = 1863 |editor1-last = Rust |editor1-first = Wilhelm |editor1-link = Wilhelm Rust |title = Joh. Seb. Bach's Kirchencantaten: Sechster Band, No 51–60 |trans-title = Joh. Seb. Bach's church cantatas: Sixth volume, Nos. 51–60 |url = http://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb11131427-7 |series= Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe |language = de |volume = 12 |others = Bach Gesellschaft |issue = 2 |publisher = Breitkopf & Härtel|page=[https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb11131427?page=30 X]}}</ref>
The date of the first performance is unknown. The cantata was performed in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig in 1867 and 1873.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dörffel |first1=Alfred |author-link1=Alfred Dörffel |year=1884 |chapter=Statistik der Concerte im Saale des Gewandhauses zu Leipzig |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/DieGewandhausconcerteInLeipzig/Drffel-GeschichteDerGewandhausconcerteZuLeipzig#page/n282 |title=Geschichte der Gewandhausconcerte zu Leipzig vom 25. November 1781 bis 25. November 1881: Im Auftrage der Concert-Direction verfasst |url=https://archive.org/details/DieGewandhausconcerteInLeipzig |language=de |page=[https://archive.org/stream/DieGewandhausconcerteInLeipzig/Drffel-GeschichteDerGewandhausconcerteZuLeipzig#page/n284 3] }}</ref> Martin Elste's history of Bach performances notes that between 1904 and 1907 in Germany, the most performed work was the St Matthew Passion (49 times), with second place taken by BWV 53 (20 times). The ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' of 1906 lists 20 public performances of ''Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde'', in various European cities, in the period from late 1904 to early 1907, which makes it, among the cantatas listed for that period, the most often performed; by the 1930s, ''Actus tragicus'' (BWV 106) became the most often performed cantata.<ref name=elste/><ref>{{cite book |author=Neue Bachgesellschaft |year=1907 |title=Bach-Jahrbuch 1906 |url=https://archive.org/details/Bach-jahrbuch03.jg1906 |series=Bach-Jahrbuch |language=de |publisher=Breitkopf & Härtel |pages=[https://archive.org/details/Bach-jahrbuch03.jg1906/page/n121 116–121] }}</ref> Albert Schweitzer in 1935 called ''Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde'' "[t]he best known of the solo cantatas for alto".<ref name=schweitzer />
While current Bach scholarship has ruled out Bach as its possible composer, there is no clear consensus that Hoffmann should be confirmed as the composer of the piece. In the ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' of 1955 (published 1956), {{ill|Karl Anton (theologian)|de|Karl Anton (Theologe)|lt=Karl Anton}} described the aria as being extracted from a multi-movement cantata which originated in the circle around Hoffmann.<ref name=anton/> A year later, Dürr confirmed that BWV 53 was likely composed by Hoffmann.<ref>{{cite book |last= Dürr |first= Alfred |author-link = Alfred Dürr|year = 1957 |chapter= Zur Echtheit der Kantate 'Meine Seele rühmt und preist' |chapter-url= https://doi.org/10.13141/bjb.v19561511 |editor1-last= Dürr |editor1-first = Alfred |editor2-last = Neumann |editor2-first = Werner |editor2-link = Werner Neumann (musicologist) |title = Bach-Jahrbuch 1956|url = https://journals.qucosa.de/bjb/issue/view/117 |series = Bach-Jahrbuch |language = de |volume = 43 |others = Neue Bachgesellschaft |publisher = Evangelische Verlagsanstalt|page = 155 |doi = 10.13141/bjb.v1956}}</ref> In 1994 the musicologist Peter Wollny conjectured that the aria BWV 53 might have been part of the funeral music by Hoffmann, commissioned for the memorial service at Halle on 1 May 1713, to mark the death of Frederick I of Prussia in February 1713.<ref name=wollny>{{cite book |last1 = Wollny|first1 = Peter|author-link1 = Peter Wollny |date = 1994 |chapter = Bachs Bewerbung um die Organistenstelle an der Marienkirche in Halle und ihr Kontext |trans-chapter= Bach's candidature for the position as organist at the St. Mary's Church in Halle, and its context |chapter-url = https://doi.org/10.13141/bjb.v19941163 |editor1-last = Schulze |editor1-first = Hans-Joachim|editor1-link = Hans-Joachim Schulze |editor2-last = Wolff |editor2-first = Christoph|editor2-link = Christoph Wolff|title = Bach-Jahrbuch 1994|trans-title= Bach-Yearbook 1994|url= https://journals.qucosa.de/bjb/issue/view/155|series = Bach-Jahrbuch|language = de |volume = 80|others = Neue Bachgesellschaft|publisher = Evangelische Verlagsanstalt |pages = 25–39|doi = 10.13141/bjb.v1994|isbn = 3-374-01550-6|issn = 0084-7682}}</ref>{{rp|25–26, 28–29}} In the 1998 revision of the BWV, by Dürr and {{ill|Yoshitake Kobayashi|d|Q11461831}}, ''Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde'' was moved to the second ''Anhang'', that is the ''Anhang'' of works doubtfully attributed to Bach, naming Hoffmann as its possible composer.<ref name=kobayashi/> If composed by Hoffmann, it must have originated from around the first decade of the 18th century: Hoffmann died in October 1715, ten years after becoming organist and director musices (music director) of the Neukirche in Leipzig.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalPerson_agent_00002822?lang=en|title=Hoffmann, Georg Melchior|date=27 May 2019|website=Bach Digital}}</ref>
Many modern full scores or vocal scores, such as the editions of Breitkopf & Härtel and Eulenburg, name the composer of ''"Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde"'' as "M. Hoffmann" or "Melchior Hoffmann".<ref name=Lucy/>
==Text== The author of the text is unknown.<ref name=bd53/> It is sometimes attributed to Salomon Franck; Spitta believed that Franck's style can be recognized in the text.<ref name=wolff-emery/><ref name=spitta84/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb139096499.public|title=[Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde. BWV 53 Anh II 23 ->] |publisher=BnF|language=fr|access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref>
As the work was likely composed for a funeral service,<ref name="bc">{{cite web |url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV53.htm |access-date=31 May 2013 |title=Cantata BWV 53 |website=Bach Cantatas Website}}</ref><ref name="Vermont">{{cite web| url = http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV53.html| title = BWV 53 Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde| publisher = University of Vermont| access-date = 26 May 2014}}</ref><ref name=wolff-emery>{{cite encyclopedia|last1 = Wolff |first1 = Christoph |author-link1 = Christoph Wolff | last2 = Emery | first2 = Walter | title = Bach, Johann Sebastian| encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press | doi = 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.6002278195|isbn = 9781561592630 |at=[https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278195?rskey=elKrTl&result=3#omo-9781561592630-e-6002278195-table-22 Doubtful and spurious]}}</ref> the text reflects the hour of death as desired. Translations have included "Haste to strike, oh longed for hour",<ref name="Crouch">{{cite book| last = Crouch| first = Simon| url = http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/053.php| title = Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde (Haste to strike, oh longed for hour)| publisher = classical.net| year=1999| access-date = 31 May 2013}}</ref> "Strike my hour, so long awaited", and "Strike then thou, O blessed hour".<ref name="Vermont" /> The title of the cantata is rendered In English as "Strike, O Bell" in the Oxford Orchestral Series, as "Strike thou ear" in the edition of Novello & Co and as "Sound your knell" in the editions of Breitkopf & Härtel and Augener & Co.<ref name=whittaker/><ref name=Lucy>{{cite book|translator=Lucy Broadwood|translator-link=Lucy Broadwood| title=Kantate Nr. 53 : "Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde" : für Alt-Solo|trans-title= Cantata No. 53 : "Sound your knell, blest hour of parting" |author-first=Georg Melchior|author-last=Hofmann|author-link=Georg Melchior Hoffmann|publisher=Breitkopf & Härtel|editor-first=Günther|editor-last=Raphael|editor-link=Günther Raphael|language=de|year=1961|ismn=979-0-004-17207-0}}</ref>
In a middle section, the angels are asked to open heavenly meadows, to see Jesus soon ("Kommt, ihr Engel, … Öffnet mir die Himmelsauen, meinen Jesum bald zu schauen").<ref name="Vermont" />
The German text of the aria and its English translation by Lucy Broadwood are as follows:<ref name=Lucy/>
{{Verse translation|lang=de|{{nowrap|Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde}} brich doch an, du schöner Tag! :Kommt, ihr Engel, auf mich zu, :öffnet mir die Himmelsauen, :meinen Jesum bald zu schauen :in vergnügter Seelenruh'! :Ich begehr' von Herzensgrunde, :nur den letzten Stundenschlag. |Sound your knell, blest hour of parting, Quickly dawn o happy day! :Angels! haste to my release! :Waft me to the realms supernal, :Where in Jesu's arms eternal :I shall rest in perfect peace. :{{nowrap|Let me hear the last hour tolling,}} :That shall call my soul away.|attr1=Salomon Franck?|attr2=Lucy Broadwood}}
== Music and scoring == [[File:Vredesbeiaard met tuimelaar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A carillon operated by a keyboard in Aarschot, Flanders, Belgium]] The aria is composed in the key of E major and has a time signature of {{music|time|3|2}}. It is scored for alto, two bells (respectively playing E and B), two violins, viola, and continuo (cello, organ).<ref name=Vermont /><ref name=bd53>{{cite web|url=https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_Work_00000068?lang=en|title=Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde (Aria) BWV 53 / Anh. II 23‑>|date=11 March 2019|website=Bach Digital}}</ref><ref name="Berlin State Library">{{cite web|url=http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0002364000020000|publisher=Berlin State Library|title=Trauer Arie: Schlage doch gewünschte Stunde |access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last1 = Glöckner | first1 = Andreas | author-link1 = Andreas Glöckner | title = Hoffmann, Melchior | year=2001|encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi = 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.13159}}</ref> It is the oldest known composition in which bells are used as a musical instrument.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Price|first1=Percival|last2=Rae|first2=Charles Bodman|last3=Blades|first3=James|entry=Bell(i)|encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.42837}}</ref> According to musicologist Jeremy Montagu, it is possible that originally the bells might have been activated by the manuals or pedals in the organ register. In modern editions the bells sound as the ''E'' above middle C and the ''B'' as a fifth higher; the marking ''Campanella'' could signify bells in the treble range, as marked, or in the tenor or bass register one or two octaves below. The aria could not have been performed using conventional church bells, because of their size and the problem of coordinating players in the church and the belfry.<ref name=Montagu>{{cite book|last=Montagu|first=Jeremy|title=Timpani and percussion|year=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-09337-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/timpanipercussio00jere/page/92 92]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/timpanipercussio00jere/page/92}}</ref>
When Bach redesigned the organ of the Blasius church in Mühlhausen in 1708, he added a novelty: a register with bells (chimes) in the pedalboard.<ref name="Wolff 2002 109">{{cite book |last = Wolff |first = Christoph |author-link= Christoph Wolff|year = 2002 |chapter = At the Blasius Church in Mühlhausen |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ronZdkhQouMC&pg=PA102|title = Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YtJVFiHnepcC |publisher = Norton |isbn = 9780199248841|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ronZdkhQouMC&pg=PA109 109]}}</ref><ref name=eidam>{{Cite book |last=Eidam |first=Klaus |title=The True Life of Johann Sebastian Bach |publisher=Basic Books |year=2001 |isbn=0-465-01861-0|chapter=V|translator-first=Hoyt |translator-last=Rogers}}</ref> This mechanism—a <!--''carillon'' or--> {{lang|de|Glockenspiel}} in German—was one of Bach's own devising and constructed in collaboration with the organ-builder Johann Friedrich Wender, who had previously assisted Bach on a similar project in Arnstadt.<ref name="Wolff 2002 109"/><ref name=eidam/><ref>{{cite book |last1 = Wolff |first1 = Christoph |author-link1= Christoph Wolff |last2 = Zepf |first2 = Markus|year = 2012 |title = The organs of Johann Sebastian Bach: a handbook |translator-first = Lynn Edwards |translator-last=Butler|publisher= University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252078453|page=141}}</ref>
According to W. Gillies Whittaker, the musical style of the cantata is "somewhat unusual", with questionable scoring for the violas. He states, however, that the principal theme "is so lovely and the charm of the whole so great that one questions whether any other composer of the day could have written it". In the aria, the tolling bells and continuo play in concert, echoed in the bell-like accompaniment of the crotchets in the violins. The ''Campanella'' scoring for the two bells was originally notated in the bass clef with the standard conventions for transposing instruments (so that ''B'' and ''E'' are scored as ''D'' and ''G'' respectively). No clear indication is given of the pitch of bells (high or deep).<ref name=whittaker>{{cite book |last = Whittaker |first = W. Gillies |author-link = W. Gillies Whittaker |year = 1978 |title = The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: Sacred and Secular |volume = I |edition = Reprint |publisher = Oxford University Press |pages = 366–367 |isbn = 019315238X |chapter = Cantata No. 53}}</ref>
The aria is characterized by an obbligato bell duet.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lessner, Joanne Sydney|title=Andreas Scholl: Bach Cantatas|journal=Opera News|volume=76|issue=10|pages=69–70}}</ref> Clifford Bartlett calls the bell knell "memorable and powerful".<ref name=bartlett>{{cite web |url=http://www.deccaclassics.com/html/special/scholl-bach/album.html |access-date=31 May 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223153015/http://www.deccaclassics.com/html/special/scholl-bach/album.html|archivedate=23 December 2012 |publisher=Decca Classics |author=Bartlett, Clifford |title=Andreas Scholl: Bach Cantatas}}</ref> Simon Crouch notes that "some of [the aria's] thematic material is suggestive of Bach but the accompanying bells would be unique amongst Bach's surviving output".<ref name="Crouch" /> Forkel considers the usage of bells of doubtful taste.<ref name=forkel/><ref name=ft/>
==Recordings== {{external media | audio1 = [https://www.baroquemusic.org/DLower/BACH737T2Cantata53.mp3 BWV 53 sung by Hilde Rössel-Majdan] | audio2 = [https://charleshumphries.instantencore.com/web/music_details.aspx?ItemId=1096657 BWV 53 sung by Charles Humphries] }} <!--As per https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Schlage_doch,_gew%C3%BCnschte_Stunde,_BWV_53&type=revision&diff=1011810435&oldid=1011546766&diffmode=source the criteria for inclusion in the list of recordings is "Recordings for which sources are available demonstrating not only that the recordings exist but that they are significant - eg published reviews"--> The work was first recorded by {{ill|Emmi Leisner|de}} in 1926; this was the first time a cantata credited to Bach was recorded.<ref name=elste/> in 1999 the discographer Martin Elste singled out the recordings of Leisner and of {{ill|Hildegard Hennecke|de}}, conducted by August Wenzinger in 1951, as being noteworthy.<ref name=elste>{{cite book |last1=Elste |first1=Martin |year=2016 |orig-year= 1999 |title=Meilensteine der Bach-Interpretation 1750–2000: Eine Werkgeschichte im Wandel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1aC8DQAAQBAJ |language=de |publisher=Springer |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1aC8DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 90], [https://books.google.com/books?id=1aC8DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA154 154]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=1aC8DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 155] |isbn=9783476037923}}</ref>
In the table below, voice types in the third column adopt the terminology as rendered on the issued recording.
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Significant recordings |- ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Singer ! scope="col" | Voice type ! scope="col" | Instrumental ! scope="col" | Conductor |- ! scope="row" | 1926 | {{ill|Emmi Leisner|de}} | alto | Berlin State Opera Orchestra | <ref name=elste/> |- ! scope="row" | 1936 | {{ill|Lina Falk|d|Q63486381}} | contralto | String orchestra & bells | Alexandre Eugène Cellier<ref name="Darrell">{{cite book |last1=Darrell |first1=R. D. |date=1936 |title=The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia Of Recorded Music |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.156393 |publisher=The Gramophone Shop |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.156393/page/n34 34]}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1951 | {{ill|Hildegard Hennecke|de}} | alto | Schola Cantorum Basiliensis | August Wenzinger<ref name=elste/><ref name="Vocal Music 1955">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Philip L. |author-link1=:d:Q56705878 |date=1955 |title=The Guide to Long-Playing Music: Vocal Music |url=https://archive.org/details/vocalmusic00mill |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |page=[https://archive.org/details/vocalmusic00mill/page/8 8]}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1952 | Hilde Rössel-Majdan | contralto | Vienna State Opera Orchestra | Hermann Scherchen<ref name="Vocal Music 1955" /><ref name="Rössel-Majdan1952">{{cite AV media |people=Rössel-Majdan, Hilde; Scherchen, Hermann; Vienna State Opera Orchestra |date=1952 |title=Cantates Nos. 170, 53, 54 |medium=LP |publisher=Ducretet Thomson|id=320CW086}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1958 | Helen Watts | contralto | Philomusica of London | Thurston Dart<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Jan/Courtiers_cavaliers_4828578.htm |last=Pursglove |first=Glyn |title=Songs for Courtiers and Cavaliers |publisher=MusicWeb International |date=January 2020}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1963 | Claudia Hellmann | alto | Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra | Fritz Werner<ref>{{cite web|last=Quinn|first= John |date=5 May 2005|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/may05/bach_cantatas_erato256461402-2.htm |title=Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): The Cantatas – Volume 2|publisher=MusicWeb International}}</ref><ref name="Hellmann1969">{{cite AV media |people=Hellmann, Claudia; Werner, Fritz; Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra |date=1969 |title=Cantata no. 68 Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt. Cantata no. 98, Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan. Cantata no. 53, Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde |medium=LP |publisher=Musical Heritage Society |oclc=4357209}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1964 | Maureen Forrester | alto | I Solisti di Zagreb | Antonio Janigro<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=17336 |title=Bach: Cantatas; Handel / Maureen Forrester, Janigro, Et Al|website=ArkivMusic |access-date=29 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="Forrester2000">{{cite AV media |people=Forrester, Maureen; Janigro, Antonio; I Solisti di Zagreb |date=2000 |title=Cantata BWV 170, "Vergnügte Ruh', beliebte Seelenlust" Cantata BWV 53, "Schlage doch"; Mass in B minor, Agnus Dei |medium=CD |publisher=Amadeus |id=7010}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1984 | Shirley Love | mezzo-soprano | Amor Artis | {{ill|Johannes Somary|d|Q55950466}}<ref>{{cite book|title=A Basic Classical and Operatic Recordings Collection on Compact Discs for Libraries|last=Rosenberg|first=Kenyon|year=1990|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=104}}</ref><ref name="Love1986">{{cite AV media |people=Love, Shirley; {{ill|Johannes Somary|d|Q55950466|lt=Somary, Johannes}}; Amor Artis |date=1986 |title=Cantata no. 158 – Motet "Fürchte dich nicht" – Cantata no. 53 – Motet "Der Geist hilft" – Cantata no. 211 |medium=CD |publisher=Moss Music Group |oclc=968800397}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1987 | René Jacobs | countertenor | {{ill|Ensemble 415|fr}} | Chiara Banchini<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Aug03/bach_cantatas_alto_jacobs.htm|last=McElhearn |first=Kirk|title=JS Bach – Cantatas for Alto|publisher =MusicWeb International|date=3 August 2003}}</ref><ref name="Jacobs1988">{{cite AV media |people=Jacobs, René; Banchini, Chiara; {{ill|Ensemble 415|fr}} |date=1988 |title=Bach: Cantates pour Alto |medium=CD |publisher=Harmonia Mundi |oclc=493506134}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1993 | Jochen Kowalski | altus | Academy of St Martin in the Fields | {{ill|Kenneth Sillito|d|Q88981302}}<ref name="Kowalski1995">{{cite AV media |people=Kowalski, Jochen; {{ill|Kenneth Sillito|d|Q88981302|lt=Sillito, Kenneth}}; Academy of St Martin in the Fields |date=1995 |title=Johann Sebastian Bach: Kantaten – Cantatas BWV 53 – 82 – 170 – 200 |medium=CD |publisher=Capriccio |oclc=886834541}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 1998 | Robin Blaze | countertenor | The Parley of Instruments | Peter Holman<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/july08/german_church_cdh55230.htm |last=Wilson |first=Brian |title=CD review: German 17th-Century Church Music |publisher=MusicWeb International |date=8 July 2008}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" data-sort-value="2000-07-01" | 2000 | Guillemette Laurens | mezzo-soprano | {{ill|I Barocchisti|de}} | Diego Fasolis<ref name="Laurens2004">{{cite AV media |people=Laurens, Guillemette; Fasolis, Diego; {{ill|I Barocchisti|de}} |date=2004 |title=Cantatas: BWV 198 "Trauerode", BWV 106 "Actus tragicus" – BWV 196, BWV 53 |medium=CD |publisher=Arts |oclc=64666762}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" data-sort-value="2000-11-15" | 2000 | Carlos Mena | countertenor | Ricercar Consort | Philippe Pierlot<ref name="Mena2001">{{cite AV media |people=Mena, Carlos; Pierlot, Philippe; Ricercar Consort |date=2001 |title=De Aeternitate |medium=CD |publisher=Mirare |oclc=833390702}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-10192/ |last=Vernier |first=David |title=De Aeternitate: Review |website=Classics Today |accessdate=4 February 2021}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" data-sort-value="2001-08-23" | 2001 | Daniel Taylor | countertenor | Theatre of Early Music | Daniel Taylor<ref name="Taylor2002">{{cite AV media |people=Taylor, Daniel; Theatre of Early Music |date=2002 |title=Lamento |medium=CD |publisher=ATMA |oclc=1055458144}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Sept13/Taylor_best_acd23001.htm |last=Woolf |first=Jonathan |title=Review: The Best of Daniel Taylor |publisher=MusicWeb International |date=13 September 2013}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" data-sort-value="2001-11-15" | 2001 | Gérard Lesne | alto | Il Seminario Musicale | Patrick Cohën-Akenine<ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 2002 |title=Bach Family Arias and Cantatas |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/bach-family-arias-and-cantatas |magazine=Gramophone}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=Nicholas |url=https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/bach-jm-bach-jc-bach/ |website=Classical Music |date=20 January 2012|title=Bach, JM Bach, JC Bach}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2004 | Marianne Beate Kielland | mezzo-soprano | Cologne Chamber Orchestra | Helmut Müller-Brühl<ref>{{cite web |last = Satz |first = Don |url = http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/053.php |title = Sacred Cantatas for Alto |publisher = classical.net |date = 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Naxos Records|title=Johann Sebastian Bach: Sacred Cantatas for Alto, Liner notes| url=https://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.557621&catNum=557621&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English|editor-first=Peter|editor-last=Reichelt|translator=Keith Anderson|date=2005|id=8.557621}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2011 | Andreas Scholl | countertenor | Kammerorchester Basel | Julia Schröder<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lessner |first1=Joanne Sydney |author-link1 =Joanne Sydney Lessner |date=April 2012 |title=Andreas Scholl: 'Bach Cantatas' |url=https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2012/4/Recordings/Andreas_Scholl__Bach_Cantatas.html |magazine=Opera News |volume=76 |issue=10 |pages=69–70}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" data-sort-value="2012-10-25" | 2012 | Charles Humphries | countertenor | Kontrabande | Charles Humphries<ref name="Humphries2013">{{cite AV media |people=Humphries, Charles; Kontrabande |date=2013 |title=Music of Bach |medium=CD |publisher=Claudio|url=https://www.claudiorecords.com/detail/cr5154-2_humphries.html |oclc=906536031}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Oct14/Bach_cantatas_CR51542.htm |title=Review: CLAUDIO CR5154-2 |last=Billinge |first=Dave |date=14 October 2014 |publisher=MusicWeb International}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" data-sort-value="2012-11-04" | 2012 | Damien Guillon | alto | il Gardellino | Marcel Ponseele<ref name="Guillon2014">{{cite AV media |people=Guillon, Damien; Ponseele, Marcel; il Gardellino |date=2014 |title=Schlage doch gewünschte Stunde: Bach – Telemann – Hoffmann, Cantatas |medium=CD |publisher=Passacaille |oclc=1053416991}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.opusklassiek.nl/cd-recensies/cd-sr/srhoffmann01.htm |last=Riedstra |first=Siebe |title=CD-recensie: Schlage doch gewünschte Stunde – Bach – Telemann – Hoffmann Cantates |website=OpusKlassiek |date=January 2015 |language=nl}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2015 | Robin Blaze | alto | Bach Collegium Japan | Masaaki Suzuki<ref>{{cite web |url=https://earlymusicreview.com/bach-trauerode/ |title=Bach: 'Trauerode' |last=Stancliffe |first=David |author-link=David Stancliffe |date=1 April 2016 |website=Early Music Review}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2017 | Bejun Mehta | countertenor | Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin | {{ill|Forck|de|Bernhard Forck (Musiker)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Apr/Mehta_cantata_PTC5186669.htm |last=Cookson |first=Michael |title=Cantata – Yet Can I Hear... |publisher=MusicWeb International |date=April 2018}}</ref> |}
==Ballet version== In 1992 the choreographer Mark Morris set BWV 53 as a ''pas de deux'' for a female and male dancer. It was titled ''Beautiful Day'' in explicit reference to Morris's 1985 ''pas de deux'' ''One Charming Night'' (to music of Henry Purcell). Morris's biographer, Joan Acolella, described "Beautiful Day" as one of his most sublime dances—"intimate" with no vestiges of the perversity of the 1985 piece.<ref name=Morris>{{cite book|title=Mark Morris|first=Joan Ross|last= Acocella|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|year= 2004|isbn= 9780819567314|page=110}}</ref> In a review in ''The New York Times'', the critic Jack Anderson felt however that the piece was "choreographically rigid" with too much adherence to the musical score.<ref>{{cite news|work=The New York Times|title=Dance Review: A Mark Morris Romp With Pink Pajamas|date=9 April 1992|access-date=16 January 2021|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/09/arts/review-dance-a-mark-morris-romp-with-pink-pajamas.html|first=Jack|last=Anderson|author-link=Jack Anderson (dance critic)}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|33em}}
== External links == * {{IMSLP|work=Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde (Hoffmann, Melchior)|cname=''Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde''|descr= }} * {{AllMusic | id=mc0002524017 | title=Melchior Hoffmann: Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde, funeral cantata for voice, bells, strings & continuo (formerly BWV 53) }} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byfiKDzjEmk Performance of BWV 53 by Marriane Beate Kieland with Cologne Chamber Orchestra], youtube.com
{{Bach spurious}} {{Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{Bach cantatas}} {{Authority control}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde'', BWV 53}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlage Doch Gewunschte Stunde BWV 53}} Category:Church cantatas Category:1730 compositions Category:Bach: spurious and doubtful works Category:German church music Category:Frederick I of Prussia