Easter Oratorio

Bach music composition

Easter Oratorio

BWV 249

Oratorio by J. S. Bach

St. Thomas Church, Leipzig

Native name| Oster-Oratorium (Kommt, eilet und laufet)
Occasion| Easter
Cantata text| Picander?
Based on| BWV 249a
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, beginning with "Kommt, eilet und laufet" (Come, hurry and run).[1] Bach composed it in Leipzig, using the music from a congratulatory cantata, Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, or Shepherd Cantata, that he had performed on 23 February for Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. The text of the secular cantata is by Picander, who possibly also adapted it for the church cantata for Easter Sunday. Bach performed this first version of the oratorio on Easter Sunday, 1 April 1725.

Unlike Bach's other oratorios, the Easter Oratorio is not close to the Bible, through an Evangelist narrator, but is an action between four Biblical characters assigned to the four voice parts. The work in eleven movements is festively 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 for several performances. In the 1725 version, the chorus sang only the final movement. For Easter 1738, Bach wrote a new autograph score and called the work Oratorio. For a performance in the 1740 he rewrote the music of the outer sections of the third movement for choir.

## History

[edit]

Bach composed a Tafel-Music, Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, or Shepherd Cantata, in 1725 for the 43rd birthday of his patron, Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, performed on at Schloss Neu-Augustusburg [de] on 23 February 1725.[2] He used its music for a church cantata for Easter Sunday, and first performed it in Leipzig on 1 April 1725.[3] The author of the Shepherd Cantata was Picander,[4] in their first documented collaboration.[5] It seems likely that he also wrote the text for the Easter cantata, and that Bach planned to reuse the music from the start.[3]

The cantata was first titled Kommt, gehet und eilet.[6] The work is opened by two instrumental movements that are probably taken from a concerto of the Köthen period. It seems possible that the third movement is based on the concerto's finale.[7]

Bach performed the work at least three more times, polishing details every time.[3] For a performance in 1738, he wrote a new autograph score and called the work Oratorio.[3] In a later version in the 1740s the third movement was expanded from a duet to a four-part chorus.[7]

## Music

[edit]

### Plot, structure and scoring

[edit]

Unlike Bach's later Christmas Oratorio, the Easter Oratorio has no Evangelist narrator providing Biblical text, but features four characters assigned to the four voice parts: 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).[6]

The work is structured in eleven movements, with two instrumental movements at the beginning. The choir was present only in the final movement until a later performance in the 1740s when the opening duet was set partly for four voices. The music is festively scored for 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).[8][9]

In the following table of the movements, 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.[10] 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

2 | Adagio |  |  | Ft or Ob | 2Vl Va | Bc | B minor | 3

3 | Chorus | Kommt, eilet und laufet | SATB | 3Tr 2Ob | 2Vl Va | Bc |  | 3

4 | Rec. | O kalter Männer Sinn | S A T B |  |  | Bc | B minor |
5 | Aria | Seele, deine Spezereien | S | Ft |  | Bc | B minor | 3

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 | T | 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

### Movements

[edit]

#### 1 and 2

[edit]

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. 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 it is not in the style of Bach's concertos.[7]

#### 3

[edit]

The first movement to be sung is the third movement, "Kommt, eilet und laufet" (Come, hasten and run),[1] began as a duet of the two disciples Simon and John running to the grave of Jesus. Upward runs illustrate their motion. In a later version, Bach set its outer sections for choir, leaving the middle section as a duet.[7]

#### 9

[edit]

Mary Magdalene, alto, expresses "Saget, saget mir geschwinde, saget, wo ich Jesum finde," (Tell me, tell me quickly, say where I can find Jesus),[1], based on words from the Song of Songs. In the middle section she 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.[7] The words and emotions are close to those opening Part Two of the St Matthew Passion.

#### 11

[edit]

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] The movement is structured in two contrasting sections, resembling the Sanctus composed for Christmas 1724 and later part of the Mass in B minor.[7]

## Recordings

[edit]

The recordings are taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas website.[11]

* Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn, Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, Edith Selig, Claudia Hellmann, Helmut Krebs, Jakob Stämpfli, cond. Fritz Werner, Erato 1964
* Süddeutscher Madrigalchor, Süddeutsches Kammerorchester, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Patricia Johnson, Theo Altmeyer, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, cond. Wolfgang Gönnenwein, HMV 1965
* Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Lisa Larsson, Elisabeth von Magnus, Gerd Türk, Klaus Mertens, cond. Ton Koopman, Erato, 1998
* Gabrieli Consort and Players, cond. Paul McCreesh, Archiv Produktion, 2001

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Dellal 2025.
2. ^ Wolf 2021.
3. ^ a b c d Leisinger 2003.
4. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 273–274.
5. ^ Grychtolik 2019.
6. ^ a b Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 273.
7. ^ a b c d e f Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 274.
8. ^ Bach Digital 2025.
9. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 271–230.
10. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 271.
11. ^ Oron 2024.

### Cited sources

[edit]

* "Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet ihr Sorgen BWV 249.1; BWV 249a; BC [G 2]". Bach Digital. 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
* Dellal, Pamela (2025). "BWV 249 – Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füße / (The Easter Oratorio)". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 19 February 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 978-0-19-969628-4.271-274&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=978-0-19-969628-4&rft.aulast=Dürr&rft.aufirst=Alfred&rft.au=Jones,+Richard+D.+P.&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9JuwslMcq4C&pg;=PA271&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Easter+Oratorio" class="Z3988">
* Leisinger, Ulrich (2003). Oratorium / Osteroratorim / Oratorium festi paschali / BWV 249 (PDF). Carus-Verlag. pp. VI–V. Retrieved 19 February 2025.VI-V&rft.pub=Carus-Verlag&rft.date=2003&rft.aulast=Leisinger&rft.aufirst=Ulrich&rft_id=https://www.carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien/30/3124900/3124900x.pdf&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Easter+Oratorio" class="Z3988">
* Grychtolik, Alexander (2019). "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Entfliehet, entschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen". Ortus Musikverlag. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
* Oron, Aryeh (2024). "Oster-Oratorium BWV 249 / Kommet, eilet und laufet". Bach Cantatas website. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
* Wolf, Uwe (4 May 2021). ""Hochfürstl. Sächsisch-Weißenfelsischer würklicher Capellmeister"". Carus-Verlag. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
* "'Entfliehet, ihr Sorgen' – Bach celebration cantatas BWV 205a & 249a". Funk-Stiftung. Retrieved 19 February 2025.

## Further reading

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

## External links

[edit]

* Autograph score in the Digitized Collections of Berlin State Library and in Bach digital
* Oster-Oratorium, BWV 249 (Bach, Johann Sebastian): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
* BWV 249 Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füßen (Oster-Oratorium) English translation, University of Vermont
* 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

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