Desired ray of light (Erwunschtes Freudenlicht)

Cantata for the 3rd Sunday of Pentecost

By Johann Sebastian Bach

Desired ray of light (Erwunschtes Freudenlicht) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Instrument:

Voice

Choir

Piano and Keyboard

Ensemble:

3-Part

4-Part

Mixed Choir

Orchestra

SAT

SATB

Format:

Study Score

Publisher:

Carus Verlag

Be the first! Write a Review

Orchestra SAT vocal soli, SATB choir, 2 flutes, 2 violins, viola, basso continuo - Level 3
Cantata for the 3rd Sunday of Pentecost. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Edited by Reinhold Kubik. Arranged by Paul Horn. This edition: Paperbound. German title: Erwunschtes Freudenlicht. Sacred vocal music, Cantatas, Whitsun. Study score. Composed 1724. BWV 184. 68 pages. Duration 25 minutes. Carus Verlag #CV 31.184/07. Published by Carus Verlag (CA.3118407).

Item Number: CA.3118407

ISBN 9790007050481. Key: G major / e minor. Language: German/English.

The Pentecost cantata "Desired ray of light" BWV 184 is based on a Kothen composition, probably a congratulatory cantata, whose instrumental parts (only these have survived) Bach reused in the Leipzig Pentecost cantata. Only the chorale setting was evidently newly composed. Despite the narrow leeway that the already finished composition left for the librettist, he nevertheless succeeded in crafting a coherent Pentecost text. The fact that the cantata begins with a long tenor accompagnato with two flutes followed by a pastoral duet is surprising. The placing of the chorale not at the end of the work but before the concluding chorus is unusual. Bach was evidently aware of the effect that the ending of this lively movement would have and wanted to retain this in its sacred form as well. The sacred version was first performed on the third day of Pentecost in 1724, probably after a parody version of another Kothen cantata (BWV 173) had already been performed on the second day of Pentecost. Score available separately - see item CA.3118400.