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35 Combinatorial Modeling in the Chorus Movement of Cantata 24, Ein ungefärbt Gemüte Alexander J. Fisher I n his volume Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, Christoph Wolff admirably summarizes Bach’s principal goals as he embarked on the regular composition of cantatas shortly after his arrival in Leipzig on May 22, 1723: What clearly emerges . . . are two aims: first, to provide himself with a working repertoire of substantial size that he would be able to draw on later; to set certain goals for the individual cycles that would enable him to explore the flexible cantata typology as widely as possible, to leave his own distinct mark, and—as in other areas of compositional activity—to push the genre beyond its current limits.1 The twin demands of pragmatism and intellectual exploration decisively shaped the composer’s output as he settled into a position that was far different, and in many ways more demanding, than the post he had held in Cöthen. In recent decades, the pioneering work of Georg von Dadelsen and Alfred Dürr on the chronology of Bach’s Leipzig cantata performances has led to a better understanding of Bach’s compositional process, as well as the nature of his responsibilities as Cantor of St. Thomas.2 Bach began his regular duties on May 30, 1723, the First Sunday after Trinity, and thereafter proceeded to provide concerted church music on a weekly basis—a task he fulfilled by composing new works as well as reviving pieces originally written during his previous positions in Mühlhausen, Weimar, and Cöthen. Because Bach performed a relatively large number of preexisting Weimar works in his first yearly cycle of church cantatas, it is not inappropriate to ask whether the revived Weimar pieces exerted a special influence on his new compositions.3 As the chronology of Dürr and Dadelsen attests, Bach elected to revive Cantata 21, Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, for the Third Sunday after Trinity. One week later, on the Fourth Sunday after Trinity, he provided a new work, Cantata 24, Ein ungefärbt Gemüte, which he paired with another Weimar piece, Cantata 185, Barmherziges Herz der ewigen Liebe. fisher 36 A comparison of the revived cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis with the newly composed cantata Ein ungefärbt Gemüte reveals an unusual modeling procedure on the part of Bach, a procedure that to my knowledge has not been recognized previously. In his initial months as St. Thomas Cantor, Bach faced the task of providing largescale concerted music on a weekly basis. Although he had composed and performed cantatas in his earlier posts (he was compelled to write one cantata per month for the Weimar court chapel in the previous decade, from 1714 to 1716, for example), the sheer quantity of music expected from Bach in Leipzig must have posed a formidable challenge. Table 1 shows a calendar of his first cantata performances in Leipzig in 1723, from the First Sunday after Trinity (May 30) to the Tenth Sunday after Trinity (August 1). The table also gives the number of movements in each work, since this information is relevant to the present discussion. A glance at the movement structure for Cantatas 75, 76, and 21 suggests that Bach intended, at least initially, to provide large, two-part cantatas on a weekly basis, following the pattern of his audition performance, which appears to have included two works, Cantata 22, Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, of five movements, and Cantata 23, Table 1. Calendar of J.S. Bach’s Leipzig Cantata Performances May 30–August 1, 1723 Date Occasion Work Movements May 30 1st Sunday after Trinity Cantata 75, Die Elenden sollen essen 14 (7 + 7) June 6 2d Sunday after Trinity Cantata 76, Die Himmel erzählen die 14 (7 + 7) Ehre Gottes June 13 3d Sunday after Trinity Cantata 21, Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis* 11 (6 + 5) June 20 4th Sunday after Trinity Cantata 24, Ein ungefärbt Gemüte 6 Cantata 185, Barmherziges Herze der 6 ewigen Liebe* June 24 Feast of St. John Cantata 167, Ihr Menschen, rühmet 5 Gottes Liebe June 27 5th Sunday after Trinity Unidentified work — July 2 Visitation Cantata 147, Herz und Mund und Tat 10 (6 + 4) und Leben* July 4 6th Sunday after Trinity Unidentified work — July 11 7th Sunday after Trinity Cantata 186, Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht* 11 (6 + 5) July 18 8th Sunday after Trinity Cantata 136...

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