Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 07/09/2003, uploaded on 02/26/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme from Cantata BWV 140      Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach composed over 200 cantatas during his career and they contain some of his most famous and enduring music. Most were written to fulfill the requirements of the Leipzig Churches' demand for about 58 different cantatas each year.

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, also known as Sleepers Awake, is based on the Lutheran chorale of the same name by Philipp Nicolai. It is based on the parable of the ten virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13 which was to be read on the 27^th Sunday after Trinity according to the Lutheran lectionary of Bach's time. However, this Sunday only occurred when Easter fell early in the year and because of this the cantata was less often performed than others.

The chorale appears in three of the seven movements in the cantata. The first movement is a fantasia based on the chorale's first verse. The fourth movement uses the second verse of the chorale and is set in a trio sonata style for tenors, oboe da caccia and continuo. The last movement sets the final verse of the chorale in a four-part harmonization. Each of these settings of the chorale melody is separated from each other by a recitative-aria pair. In each case, the arias are duets for soprano and bass.

Probably the most well-known portion of this cantata is the fourth movement tenor chorale. Bach later transcribed this movement, along with five others from different cantatas, for the organ and published them as part of his Sechs Chorale von verschiedener Art ("Six Chorales of Various Kinds"), better known as the Schübler Chorales. It has since been transcribed by others for the piano as well as various chamber ensembles.     Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.