{{Short description|Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{Infobox Bach composition | title = {{lang|de|Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten}} | bwv = 74 | type = Church cantata | composer = J. S. Bach | image = Christiana Mariana von Ziegler.jpg | image_upright = 0.9 | caption = Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, {{nowrap|author of the cantata text}} | related = | occasion = Pentecost | performed = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1725|05|20|df=y}}?|location=Leipzig}} | movements = 8 | chorale = "{{langr|de|Gott Vater, sende deinen Geist}}" | vocal = {{abbr|SATB|soprano, alto, tenor and bass}} choir and solo | instrumental = {{hlist | 3 trumpets | timpani | 2 oboes | oboe da caccia | 2 violins | viola | continuo }} }} '''{{lang|de|Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten}}''' ("If a man love me, he will keep my words", more literally: "He who loves me will obey my commands"), '''BWV{{nbsp}}74''',{{efn|"BWV" is Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, a thematic catalogue of Bach's works.}} is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Pentecost and first performed it on 20 May 1725.
It is the sixth of nine cantatas on texts by Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, with whom Bach collaborated at the end of his second cantata cycle. It begins with a choral movement, a reworking of one on the same text that Bach had composed for Pentecost 1723. For a closing chorale she used the second stanza from Paul Gerhardt's hymn "{{langr|de|Gott Vater, sende deinen Geist}}". She quoted the Bible three times, from the Gospel twice and one from the epistle. Much of her text was based on the Gospel of John. Bach scored the cantata for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, an oboe da caccia, strings and basso continuo.
== History and text == Bach composed this cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the first day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday).<ref name=bc /> The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Acts of the Apostles ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Acts|chapter=2|verse=1|range=–13}}) and the Gospel of John, part of the Farewell Discourse ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=John|chapter=14|verse=23|range=–31}}).<ref name=cn>{{cite web|url=http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/074.php|access-date=27 May 2013|title=Cantata 74|author=Crouch, Simon|publisher=Classical Net}}</ref>
The librettist for this work was Christiana Mariana von Ziegler. She collaborated with Bach on nine cantatas after Easter 1724, beginning with {{lang|de|''Ihr werdet weinen und heulen'', BWV 103 |italic=unset}}, this being the sixth of them. In most of these works, she began with a quotation of Jesus from the Gospel. For this cantata, she quoted the Bible three times, taking a quotation from the Gospel as a starting point in movement 1 (verse 23), another one in movement 4 (verse 28), and a quotation from an epistle by Paul in movement 6 ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Romans|chapter=8|verse=1}}). She concluded the text with the second stanza from Paul Gerhardt's hymn "{{langr|de|Gott Vater, sende deinen Geist}}".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/74.html|access-date=31 May 2013|language=de|title=BWV 74|publisher=bach.de}}</ref> She based much of her text on the "metaphysical" readings of the Gospel of John.<ref name=em>{{cite web|url=https://www.emmanuelmusic.org/bach-notes/bwv-74|access-date=23 August 2022|publisher=Emmanuel Music|title=Bach Cantata Notes: BWV 74|author=Smith, Craig}}</ref>
Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance on 20 May 1725.<ref name=bc />
== Scoring and structure == This piece is scored for four solo voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, an oboe da caccia, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.<ref name=bc>{{cite web|url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV74.htm|access-date=27 May 2013|title=Cantata BWV 74|publisher=bach-cantatas}}</ref>
The cantata has eight movements:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/74.html|access-date=27 May 2013|publisher=University of Alberta|title=BWV 74}}</ref> #Chorus: {{langr|de|Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten}} #Aria (soprano): {{langr|de|Komm, komm, mein Herze steht dir offen}} #Recitative (alto): {{langr|de|Die Wohnung ist bereit}} #Aria (bass): {{langr|de|Ich gehe hin und komme wieder zu euch}} #Aria (tenor): {{langr|de|Kommt, eilet, stimmet Sait und Lieder}} #Recitative (bass): {{langr|de|Es ist nichts Verdammliches an denen}} #Aria (alto): {{langr|de|Nichts kann mich erretten}} #Chorale: {{langr|de|Kein Menschenkind hier auf der Erd}}
== Music == The opening chorus of this cantata is shorter than average and is a substantial reworking of the opening chorus from {{lang|de|''Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten'', BWV 59 |italic=unset}}, composed two years earlier and performed again the previous year. It employs a ritornello theme followed by a fanfare-like choral entry. The original movement was a two-part vocal entry; the expansion relies on imitative pairings, reflecting the earlier texture.<ref name=min>{{cite web|url=https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-48-bwv-74|author=Mincham, Julian|title=Chapter 48 BWV 74|publisher=jsbachcantatas|access-date=23 August 2022}}</ref> Craig Smith suggests that this is one of Bach's most successful arrangements of his own work because it remakes the "patchy" and "hollow" duet into "something richly varied and exquisitely delicate".<ref name=em /> The movement is in C major and common time.<ref name=org>{{cite web|url=http://www.bach.org/bwv74.php|access-date=27 May 2013|title=Cantata BWV 74|publisher=Bach Choir of Bethlehem|year=2003|author=Traupman-Carr, Carol}}</ref>
The second movement is a soprano aria with oboe da caccia, a transposition of the bass and violin pairing of BWV 59.<ref name=min /> The new arrangement lends a "childlike openness" to the movement.<ref name=em /> It is in F major and common time.<ref name=org />
The third movement is a short alto recitative of only seven measures.<ref name=org /> It is characterized by the diminished chord which concludes the vocal line before the final cadence.<ref name=min />
The bass aria uses "sequences of 'treading' quavers in the continuo line" to suggest a stepping motion. The movement concludes with a long vocal melisma.<ref name=min /> The movement is in E minor.<ref name=org />
The piece then moves into a technically demanding tenor aria dominated by swirling string lines. The movement is in a combined ternary and ritornello form, adopting a heavy emphasis on the words ''komm'' and ''eilet'' ("come" and "hasten"), and concludes with a modulation to a minor key and darker harmonies.<ref name=min />
The bass recitative, like the earlier alto, is rather short and simple in comparison to the arias. It employs an unusual accompaniment of three oboes.<ref name=min /> The recitative modulates from E minor to C major.<ref name=org />
The seventh movement, an alto aria, has unusually dense texture and rich scoring. It opens with a fanfare-like ritornello followed by long melismatic passages with repeated notes in the instrumental parts. The short middle section moves to a less dense accompaniment and a minor key, with a "manic chortling" of triplets on the word ''lache'' ("laugh").<ref name=min />
The closing chorale is a four-part setting of the melody of "{{lang|de|Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn}}".<ref name=mel>{{cite web|url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Kommt-her-zu-mir.htm|access-date=31 May 2013|title=Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn|publisher=bach-cantatas|year=2006}}</ref> It is in a minor key, creating a sombre mood.<ref name=min />
== Recordings == * Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Bogna Bartosz, Christoph Prégardien, Klaus Mertens, ''J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 14'', Antoine Marchand 2001 * Gächinger Kantorei / Bach-Collegium Stuttgart. ''Die Bach Kantate''. Hänssler, 1972. * Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists. ''J. S. Bach: Whitsun Cantatas''. Archiv Produktion, 1999. * Nederlands Vocaal Ensemble / Deutsche Bachsolisten. ''Bach: 13 Sacred Cantatas & 13 Sinfonias''. Philips, 1972.
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMSLP|work=Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 74 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)}} * [http://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000093?lang=en Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten BWV 74; BC A 83 / Sacred cantata (1st Day of Pentecost)] Bach Digital * [http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV74.html BWV 74 Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten]: English translation, University of Vermont * Luke Dahn: [http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0074_8.htm BWV 74.8] bach-chorales.com * {{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_SDG121 | title = Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 34, 59, 68, 74, 172, 173 & 174 | publisher = Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website) | year = 2006 | access-date = 8 June 2019 }}
{{Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{Bach cantatas}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten'', BWV 74}} Category:Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Category:1725 compositions