Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft, BWV 50

Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft (Now is [come] salvation and strength), BWV 50,^{[lower-alpha 1]} is a choral movement long attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach and assumed to be part of a lost cantata. The work was likely composed in 1723 but the date of its first performance is unknown.

History and text

American Bach scholar William H. Scheide suggested that the work was written for a Michaelmas celebration.^[1] However, the exact dates of composition and first performance are unknown.^[2]

The work has fascinated Bach scholars because of questions about its provenance. No autograph sources exist, and the earliest copies extant do not mention Bach's name.^[3] In 1982, Scheide argued that the existing version (for double choir) is an arrangement by an unknown hand of a lost original for five voices by J. S. Bach. His argument was based on irregularities in BWV 50's part-writing, which are highly unlike the writing of Bach.^[1] In 2000, the American performer and scholar Joshua Rifkin argued that a more plausible solution of this puzzle is that the author of BWV 50 was not Bach at all, but an unknown (but highly gifted) composer of the era. The suggestion is controversial.^[4]

The prescribed readings for the day were from Revelation 12:7–12 and Matthew 18:1–11; this movement draws from Revelation 12:10.^[2] Its text is "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft und das Reich und die Macht unsers Gottes seines Christus worden, weil der verworfen ist, der sie verklagete Tag und Nacht vor Gott".^[5]

Scoring

The piece is written for an unusually large orchestra. The score involves two four-part choirs, three trumpets, timpani, three oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.^[5]

The movement is a chorus, or "coro doppio".^[5]

Music

Like other cantatas for Michaelmas, it features texture layering from the lowest range to the highest, and a contrapuntal representation of "battles and massing armies". It is in two distinct sections and uses fugal techniques.^[6]

The movement begins with a "strong declaration in unharmonized octaves", pairing the low strings with the bass voice of the first choir. A rhythmic shift creates a "floating, turn-around feeling" before the tenor line enters, followed by alto and soprano. As this choir shifts into rhythmic counterpoint, the second choir, trumpet, and oboes enter. The movement also incorporates call-and-response, military-like tattoos, and an inversion of the previous order of thematic entry. The final twelve bars adopt a chromatic style not heard earlier in the piece.^[7]

Recordings

• Berliner Philharmonischer Chor / Berliner Philharmoniker, Carl Schuricht. J.S. Bach: Motet, Singet dem Herrn; Cantata No. 50; Cantata No. 104. Telefunken, 1934/8.
• Dresden Cathedral Choir & Orchestra, Kurt Bauer. Bach: Cantatas Nos. 31 & 50. Janus Piroquette, 1960s–70s.
• Leeds Festival Choir / London Symphony Orchestra, Hugh P. Allen. "Now Shall The Grace", Eight-part chorus from Cantata No. 50. HMV, 1928.
• Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner. J.S. Bach: Motets & Cantatas. Erato, 1980.
• Stuttgarter Chor & Orchester, Marcel Couraud. J.S. Bach: Cantata No. 21, Cantata No. 50. Les Discophiles français, 1955.
• The Sixteen, Harry Christophers,J.S. Bach: Cantata No. 34, 50 and 147, Coro, 1992

Notes

References

External links

• Cantatas, BWV 41-50: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Cantata Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft, BWV 50: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)