Easter Oratorio

Easter Oratorio
BWV 249
Oratorio by J. S. Bach
Nikolaikirche, Leipzig
Native name	Oster-Oratorium (Kommt, eilet und laufet)
Occasion	Easter
Cantata text	Picander?
Based on	Shepherd Cantata
Performed	1 April 1725 (1725-04-01): Leipzig
Movements	11
Vocal	SATB soloists and choir
Instrumental	3 trumpets timpani 2 oboes oboe d'amore bassoon 2 recorders transverse flute 2 violins viola continuo

The Easter Oratorio (German: Oster-Oratorium), BWV 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach.^[1] He composed it in Leipzig, reusing music from an earlier congratulatory cantata, Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, alternately known as the Shepherd Cantata or Weissenfels Serenade, which he had performed on 23 February for Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. The text of the secular cantata was written by Picander, in his first documented collaboration with Bach. He also wrote the text for the work's later adaptation by Bach into the Easter Cantata, which was originally titled Kommt, gehet und eilet (Come, go and hurry).

Bach composed a trilogy of oratorios between 1732 and 1738, each marking the three events in the life of Jesus that are celebrated in Christianity as Christmas, Easter, and Ascension Day. Evidence suggests that Bach began to develop the idea for the Easter Oratorio while he was composing the Christmas Oratorio. Although the Easter Oratorio shares much of the same music with the earlier Shepherd Cantata and Easter Cantata, it bears a number of features that are distinctive. Unlike Bach's other oratorios, the composition for Easter features no original Biblical text sung by an Evangelist narrator, and no chorale, but is an action between four Biblical characters assigned to the four voice parts. The work, in eleven movements, is scored with a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, oboe d'amore, bassoon, two recorders, transverse flute, strings and continuo.

Bach revised the work, which he may have possibly regarded highly, in later performances. For a performance in the 1740s he rewrote the music of the outer sections of the third movement for choir.

Bach composed Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, known as the Shepherd Cantata or Weissenfels Serenade, in 1725 for the 43rd birthday of his patron, Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. It was performed at Schloss Neu-Augustusburg [de] on 23 February 1725.^[2][3][4] The author of the Shepherd Cantata was Picander,^[2][5] in their first documented collaboration.^[6][7] It seems likely that Picander also wrote the text for the Easter cantata, and that Bach planned from the start to reuse the music.^[8][9][10] Picander would write in 1728 about their collaboration: "I flatter myself that the lack of poetic charm may be compensated for by the loveliness of the music of our incomparable Kapellmeister Bach, and that these songs may be sung in the main churches of our pious Leipzig."^[11] The Shepherd Cantata, an interaction of two shepherds and two shepherdesses and termed a Tafelmusik, was probably performed as musical theatre.^[7]

Bach used the music of the Shepherd Cantata, only composing new recitatives, for a church cantata for Easter Sunday. The festive nature of the original source material made it well suited for the celebration of Easter. It can be considered an Easter play, following a custom of "scenic representation of the Easter story".^[12][13]

The work is opened by two instrumental movements that are probably taken from a concerto of the Köthen period.^[12] The cantata was first titled: Kommt, gehet und eilet (Come, go and hurry).^[14][15] Because the texts of the Shepherd Cantata and Easter Cantata use the same metrical pattern, the former's arias and choruses were repurposed without modifications. Only the recitatives were newly composed.^[4] The Easter Cantata does not include chorales, which is unusual in Bach's liturgical music.^[16] The cantata was first titled Kommt, gehet und eilet.^[14][15]

The first performances came on Easter Sunday, 1 April 1725, after Bach had led the his St John Passion in its second version on Good Friday.^[8][14] Bach performed it with the Thomanerchor twice, in the morning service at the Nikolaikirche where Salomon Deyling gave the sermon, and in a vespers service at the Thomaskirche, with a sermon by Johann Gottlob Carpzov.^[14]

Between 1732 and 1738, Bach composed a trilogy of oratorios that followed his musical settings of the Passion of Jesus. The oratorios were intended to commemorate the three events in the life of Jesus that are celebrated in Christianity as Christmas, Easter, and Ascension Day.^[17] Bach composed each in the parodic style he established during work on his St Mark Passion.^[18]

Extant evidence indicates that Bach probably began to develop the Easter Oratorio while he composed the Christmas Oratorio.^[19] Because the Easter Oratorio mostly consisted of music reused from the earlier Easter Cantata, it needed comparatively little preparatory work. The festive nature of the original source material, the Shepherd Cantata, made it well suited for its later adaptation as a celebration of Easter.^[4] As with the Easter Cantata, the Easter Oratorio does not include chorales, which is unusual in Bach's liturgical music.^[16] The oratorio can be considered an Easter play, following a custom of "scenic representation of the Easter story".^[12][13] The work begins with two instrumental movements that are probably taken from a concerto of the Köthen period.^[12]

Authorship of the oratorio's text is unknown. However, Picander's involvement in the oratorio's predecessor works may be evidence of his participation.^[4] Because the texts of the Shepherd Cantata and Easter Oratorio use the same metrical pattern, the former's arias and choruses were repurposed without modifications into the latter. Only the recitatives were newly composed.^[4]

The early performance history of the Easter Oratorio suggests that Bach seems to have enjoyed the the work.^[20] In a later version from the 1740s, the third movement was expanded from a duet into a four-part chorus.^[9][12][21] Bach performed it for the last time on Easter Sunday 1749,^[20] after his last performance of his St John Passion.^[9]

Although the Easter Oratorio shares much of the same music with the Easter Cantata and Shepherd Cantata, it has distinctive characteristics, primarily its lack of biblical texts and hymns. It also reflects the development of Bach's desire to compose a religious oratorio based on a scriptural tale, but without using dramatic dialogue. According to the musicologist Christoph Wolff, "Bach managed to alter markedly the oratorio by skillfully transforming it from theatrical into devotional music".^[20]

Unlike Bach's later Christmas Oratorio, the music for Easter has no Evangelist narrator providing Biblical text. The plot is based on the Gospel of Luke, 24:1–13. It features four characters assigned to the four voice parts: the disciples Simon (tenor) and John (bass), appearing in the first duet hurrying to Jesus' grave and finding it empty, meeting there Mary Magdalene (alto) and "the other Mary", Mary Jacobe (soprano).^[8][15][22]

The work is structured in eleven movements, with two instrumental movements at the beginning. It is the only work among Bach's Passions and oratorios that features no chorale.^[8] The third movement opens the scene with two disciples moving towards the grave of Jesus. The following movements 4 to 10 alternate recitatives, in which the characters interact, with arias in which expresses emotional reaction.^[8] The work is concluded by a chorus of praise. Originally the choir was present only in this final movement, but Bach rewrote the opening duet, setting it partly for choir, in the 1740s. The music is festively scored with a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets (Tr), timpani, two oboes (Ob), oboe d'amore (Oa), bassoon (Bs), two recorders (Rec), transverse flute (Ft), two violins (Vn), viola (Va) and continuo (bc).^[21][23]

In the following table of the movements, in the revised version, the scoring is taken from the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr's standard work Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach, using the symbol for common time (4/4). Dürr gives the duration as 47 minutes.^[24] The timpani always play with the trumpets and are not mentioned.

No.	Type	Text (source)	Vocal	Brass and winds	Strings	Bass	Key	Time
1	Sinfonia			3Tr 2Ob Bs	2Vl Va	Bc	D major	3 8
2	Adagio			Ft or Ob	2Vl Va	Bc	B minor	3 4
3	Chorus	Kommt, eilet und laufet	SATB	3Tr 2Ob	2Vl Va	Bc		3 8
4	Rec.	O kalter Männer Sinn	S A T B			Bc	B minor
5	Aria	Seele, deine Spezereien	S	Ft		Bc	B minor	3 4
6	Rec.	Hier ist die Gruft	A T B			Bc
7	Aria	Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer	T	2Rec	2Vl	Bc	G major
8	Rec.	Indessen seufzen wir	S A			Bc
9	Aria	Saget, saget mir geschwinde	A	Oa	2Vl Va	Bc	A major
10	Rec.	Wir sind erfreut	B			Bc
11	Chorus	Preis und Dank	SATB	3Tr 2Ob	2Vl Va	Bc	D major	3 8

The music of the arias and the closing chorus, Nos. 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11, correspond to movements of the secular model, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, while the recitatives were newly composed for Easter.^[8] John Eliot Gardiner and Yvonne Frindle pointed out that the arias resemble a dance suite.^[25][9]

The oratorio opens with two contrasting instrumental movements, a Sinfonia, an Allegro concerto grosso of the full orchestra with solo sections for trumpets, violins and oboes, and an Adagio, featuring a solo oboe and sigh motifs (Seufzermotive) in the strings.^[8] Yvonne Frindle noted that the Allegro with trumpets and timpani meant the return of festive music after the "quiet time" of Lent.^[9] The Adagio is reminiscent of a Venetian slow movement, according to Gardiner.^[25] Bach exchanged the solo instrument to flauto traverso in the third version. The two movements may come from a lost concerto from Bach's Köthen period.It had been suggested that Bach derived the third movement from the same concerto, but this was rejected arguing that three movements in a row in triple metre occur in no Bach concerto.^[8][12][25]

The first movement to be sung is the third movement, "Kommt, eilet und laufet" (Come, hasten and run).^[1] In the secular music, the music is always for two voices, first tenor and bass singing "Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen" (Flee, dissolve, fade away, you cares), to which, after a middle section, soprano and alto respond with the same text.^[1] The middle section is full of coloraturas that illustrate in the secular work laughter and mirth.^[26]

The music for the Easter work began, in the 1725 version, as a duet of tenor and bass as the two disciples Simon and John running to the grave of Jesus. Upward runs illustrate their motion. In a 1740s version, Bach set its outer sections for choir, leaving the middle section as a duet.^[6][12]

All solo voices are involved in the first recitative, "O kalter Männer Sinn!" (O cold hearts of men!),^[1] meeting at the empty grave.^[15]

The first of the arias is given to the soprano as Maria Jacobe, "Seele, deine Spezereien" (O soul, your spices).^[1] While the secular original talked about "Hunderttausend Schmeicheleien" (A hundred thousand pleasantries),^[27] the woman at the grave reflects that now, told that Jesus was no longer there, the ointments they brought for the corpse are no longer needed, and she imagines a laurel wreath for the victor.^[15] Gardiner compared the music to a minuit, with an obbligato flute.^[25]

In the second recitative, "Hier ist die Gruft" (Here is the grave),^[1][15] Mary Magdalene shares with the disciples that an angel told her that Jesus was risen.^[1]

The second arie is sung by the tenor as Simon, "Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer nur ein Schlummer, Jesu, durch dein Schweißtuch sein" (Gentle shall my death-throes be only a slumber, Jesus, because of your shroud),^[1] while the topic of the secular aria was the sleep of the sheep: "Wieget euch, ihr satten Schafe, in dem Schlafe" (Rock yourselves, you contented sheep, into sleep),^[27] Simon imagines his death as peaceful now that the shroud makes him believe that Jesus is risen.^[15] The gentle music of muted strings and recorders over a bass with a pedal-like calm pulse is reminiscent of a cradle song.^[26] Gardiner compared it to a bourrée and pointed out that recorders were also used in the Actus tragicus funeral music.^[25]

In the third recitative, "Indessen seufzen wir" (Meanwhile we sigh),^[1][15] the women express their desire to see Jesus again.^[1]

Mary Magdalene expresses in the alto aria "Saget, saget mir geschwinde, saget, wo ich Jesum finde" (Tell me, tell me quickly, say where I can find Jesus),^[1] her desire to find Jesus, based on words from the Song of Songs.^[8] In the secular model, "Komm doch, Flora, komm geschwinde" (Come, Flora, come quickly), Flora is called to bless the fields so that the peasants can pay their duties to the dedicatee of the music, Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. The piece opens with a concertante ritornello for oboe and strings; the voice picks up the oboe's theme, while the oboe accompanies.^[26]

In the middle section of the Easter work the woman says that without her beloved, she is "ganz verwaiset und betrübt" (completely orphaned and desolate),^[1]. This passage is, deviating from the secular model, set as adagio.^[12] The words and emotions are close to those opening of Part Two of the St Matthew Passion. Gardiner, who compared the piece to a gavotte, saw the adagio phrase as "almost a blueprint of a Mozartian tragedienne's grief".^[25]

In the last recitative, "Wir sind erfreut, daß unser Jesus wieder lebt" (We are delighted that our Jesus lives again),^[1][15] John summarises joy that Jesus lives again and calls for songs of joy.^[1]

In the final movement, the choir brings praise and thanks, "Preis und Dank bleibe, Herr, dein Lobgesang" (Praise and thanks remain, Lord, your hymn of praise).^[1] In the secular work, the conclusion was a congratulation, beginning with "Glück und Heil bleibe dein beständig Teil!" (May Fortune and health remain your constant portion!).^[1] The movement is structured in two contrasting sections, resembling the Sanctus composed for Christmas 1724 and later part of the Mass in B minor;^[12] both pieces feature dotted rhythm in common time and mostly chordal vocal parts.^[26] The second section recalls the opening Sinfonia in metre and fanfare motifs;^[8] Gardiner compared it to a gigue.^[25]

The oldest sources of the Easter Cantata are 14 manuscript parts, probably from the secular cantata, which were used for the performance for Easter 1725, probably with the score of the secular work with added lines of text.^[8]

The autograph score of the Easter Oratorio from 1738 is extant. It features unusually detailed markings for articulation and dynamics; the editor Ulrich Leisinger called it "one of Bach's most beautiful scores". Bach wrote the vocal parts again in 1743, and added a new principale part in 1749.^[8]

The Easter Oratorio was published in the New Bach Edition (Neue Bach-Ausgabe, NBA) in 1977, edited by Paul Brainard; a critical report followed in 1981.^[14] It was published by Carus-Verlag in 2003 as part of Stuttgarter Bach-Ausgaben, a complete edition of Bach's vocal works, edited by Leisinger.^[8]

A list of recordings is provided on the Bach Cantatas website.^[28] Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are shown with a green background. Michael Wersin compared several recordings in 2014.^[13]

• "Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet ihr Sorgen BWV 249.1; BWV 249a; BC [G 2]". Bach Digital. 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
• "Kommt, fliehet [gehet] und eilet, ihr flüchtigen Füße BWV 249.3; BWV 249; BC D 8a". Bach Digital. 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
• "Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füße (Oratorium Festo Paschali / Easter Oratorio, late version) BWV 249.5; BWV 249; BC D 8b". Bach Digital. 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
• Dellal, Pamela (2025). "BWV 249 – Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füße / (The Easter Oratorio)". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
• Dellal, Pamela (2025). "BWV 249a - Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen (The Shepherd Cantata)". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
• Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). "Kommt, eilet und laufet, Easter Oratorio BWV 249". The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 271–274. ISBN 978-0-19-969628-4.
• Frindle, Yvonne (2021). "Johann Sebastian Bach / (1685–1750) / Easter Oratorio, BWV 249" (PDF). West Australian Symphony Orchestra. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
• Gardiner, John Eliot (2014). "Bach / Gardiner / Easter Oratorio / Actus tragicus" (PDF). Monteverdi Choir. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
• Grychtolik, Alexander (2019). "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Entfliehet, entschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen". Ortus Musikverlag. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
• Henkel, Georg (1 March 2011). "Bach, J. S. (Kuijken) / Kantaten für das vollständige liturgische Jahr Vol. XIII.: Oster-Oratorium (BWV 249 – 6)". Musik an sich (in German). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
• Leisinger, Ulrich (2003). Oratorium / Osteroratorim / Oratorium festi paschali / BWV 249 (PDF). Carus-Verlag. pp. VI–V. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
• Maul, Michael (2025). "Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füße (Oratorium Festo Paschali / Easter Oratorio, late version)". Bach Digital. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
• Oron, Aryeh (2024). "Oster-Oratorium BWV 249 / Kommet, eilet und laufet". Bach Cantatas website. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
• Quinn, John (April 2014). "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / "Actus tragicus", Gottes Zeit ist der allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 / Easter Oratorio, Kommt, eilet und laufet, BWV 249". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
• Veen, Johan van (2013). "Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750): Easter Oratorio (BWV 249)". musica-dei-donum.org. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
• Vernier, David (14 April 2000). "J.S. Bach: Easter oratorio/Herreweghe". Classics Today. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
• Wersin, Michael (8 February 2014). "Hörtest / Johann Sebastian Bachs Osteroratorium: Tod, wo ist dein Stachel?". Rondo. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
• Wolf, Uwe (4 May 2021). ""Hochfürstl. Sächsisch-Weißenfelsischer würklicher Capellmeister"". Carus-Verlag. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
• Wolff, Christoph (2020). Bach's Musical Universe: The Composer and his Work. New York City: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-39-305071-4.
• Wolff, Christoph (2010). "Under the Spell of Opera? Bach's Oratorio Trilogy". In Chafe, Eric (ed.). Bach Perspectives, Volume 8: J. S. Bach and the Oratorio Tradition. University of Illinois Press.
• "'Entfliehet, ihr Sorgen' – Bach celebration cantatas BWV 205a & 249a". Funk-Stiftung. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
• "Resurrecting Bach's Easter Oratorio". Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2025.

• Markus Rathey: Bach's Major Vocal Works: Music-Drama-Liturgy. London: Yale University Press, 2016, 138–165

• Autograph score in the Digitized Collections of Berlin State Library and in Bach digital
• Kommt eilet und laufet–D major; Autograph manuscript; BWV 249, BC D 8b; D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 34, RISM
• Oster-Oratorium, BWV 249 (Bach, Johann Sebastian): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• BWV 249 Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füße (Oster-Oratorium) text, scoring, University of Alberta
• Traupman-Carr, Carol (2008). "Easter Oratorio (Oster-Oratorium) BWV 249". Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Oster-Oratorium BWV 249 on YouTube conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann