• J. J. Festo Reformationis. Concerto. Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott : á 4 Voci. 1 Haub. 2 Violini Viola e cont. / di Bach

Uniform title:
  • Feste Burg ist unser Gott (Cantata), BWV 80b
Alternative:
  • Ein feste Burg is unser Gott : Kantate am Reformationsfest (Festo Reformationis), BWV 80b.
Composer:
  • Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750
Text language:
  • Text in German.
Publisher:
  • [between 1727-31?]
Format:
  • Musical score
  • Manuscript
Date:
  • 1727-1731
Extent:
  • 1 leaf fragment : paper ; 8 x 22 cm
Spatial:
  • New Jersey
Language:
  • German
Description:
  • Added title from Schmieder, W. Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, 2d ed. (1990), pp. 132-34 (as BWV 80).
  • Caption title from Schulze, H.-J. and C. Wolff, Bach Compendium: Vokalwerke, Teil II (1987), p. 776 (A 183a).
  • Origin: First version, written in Leipzig ca. 1727-31. The second Leipzig version, BWV 80 dates from 1744-47 or earlier.
  • Both sides of the fragment show later handwritten annotations: the recto has underscored "(Sebastian Bach.)" beneath the final basso continuo notes of first movement; the verso shows "No 22 bis", "Sebastian Bach", and "Sebastien Bach" in the upper left above the oboe part and "No. 17" in the lower left under the first four continuo notes.
  • This fragment constitutes the bottom third of a manuscript folio cut horizontally into three strips (with some loss to original leaf) now preserved in three libraries: the upper third with caption title trimmed at right is in the Bibliothèque Polonaise de Paris - Société Historique et Littéraire (previously Musée Adam Mickiewicz), without shelf mark; the middle strip is in St. Petersburg, Rossiĭskai͡a nat͡sionalʹnai͡a biblioteka (previously the Saltykov-Shchedrin Library), without shelf mark. For a diplomatic reconstruction of the leaf's three fragments, see Bach, J. S.: Kantaten zum Reformationsfest und zur Orgelweihe, ed. F. Rempp (Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke, ser. I, v. 3), pp. viii-ix.
  • The recto of the leaf contains the final two measures of the first-movement chorale for four voices and basso continuo (probably with colla parte instruments) on five systems with underlying text “[seines]gleichen” and the first 2 and 1/2 measures of the instrumental introduction to the second movement “Aria” (duet) “Mit unsrer Macht ist nichts getan,” for [oboe], violins and viola all'unisono, soprano, bass, and basso continuo; measures 17-20 occur on the verso (soprano text: “[ver-]loren”; bass text: “zum Siegen auserkoren”).
Binding note:
  • Encapsulated, in folding case with printed label on reverse reading: "BACH (SÉBASTIEN). | 21 bis. - Autographe. (Original.)" and handwritten annotation "Collection Cherubini".
Former owner:
  • Szymanowska, Maria Agata Wołowska, 1789-1831
  • Cummings, William Hayman, 1831-1915
Call number:
  • 30.20
  • Electronic Resource
View in catalog:
Subject:
  • Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750—Manuscripts
  • Cantatas, Sacred
  • Music—Manuscripts
  • Manuscripts, German—New Jersey—Princeton
  • Manuscripts—Germany—Leipzig—18th century
  • Paper
  • Cantatas
  • Sacred music
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