Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1

In 1723, Bach was appointed as Thomaskantor (director of church music) in Leipzig. He was employed by the town of Leipzig to this position, which made him responsible for the music at four churches and for the training and education of boys singing in the Thomanerchor. Cantata music had to be provided for two major churches, Thomaskirche (St. Thomas) and Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas), and simpler church music for two others, Neue Kirche (New Church) and Peterskirche (St. Peter).[2]

Bach took office in the middle of the liturgical year, on the first Sunday after Trinity. In Leipzig, cantata music was expected on Sundays and on feast days, except during the "silent periods" (tempus clausum) of Advent and Lent. In his first twelve months in office, Bach decided to compose new works for almost all liturgical occasions. These works became known as his first cantata cycle.[3]

In his second year in office, Bach composed a cycle of chorale cantatas, with each cantata based on one Lutheran hymn, for the liturgical occasions[4][5]—including Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern. The choice of hymn for each of the cantatas was probably made according to the wishes of a local minister, who based the choices upon the prescribed readings and his plans for sermons.[5] Compared to the first cycle, the music has less emphasis on biblical texts, but more on the use of chorale text and melody.[6]

Bach followed a specific structure for most of the cantatas in this cycle. He deviated from using the strophic hymn text and tune in all stanzas (per omnes versus) that he used in the early Christ lag in Todes Banden. Instead, he retained the original text and melody only in the outer stanzas, typically treating the first as a chorale fantasia and the last as a four-part chorale setting, while the inner stanzas were reworded by a librettist as the basis for recitatives and arias, often with music independent of the hymn tune.[7][5]

Lutheran Leipzig observed several Marian feasts, including Annunciation on 25 March, nine months before Christmas.[8] In 1725, the feast fell on Palm Sunday.[5] Annunciation was the only occasion for festive music during Lent. The prescribed readings were as the epistle Isaiah's prophecy of the birth of the Messiah (Isaiah 7:10–16), and from the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:26–38).[9]

First publication of the hymn in Nicolai's 1599 Frewdenspiegel deß ewigen Lebens

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern is based on Philipp Nicolai's "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (1599). The hymn in seven stanzas was associated with Epiphany but also with the Annunciation.[10] The hymn, expressing the longing for the arrival of the Saviour, can be connected to Jesus' birth being announced to Mary. The theme of arrival was also fitting for Palm Sunday, when the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem is celebrated. The hymn tune with which Nicolai published his "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" chorale, Zahn No. 8359, in 1599, was over 60 years older than the hymn.[11][12]

A librettist retained the first and last stanzas of the hymn and paraphrased the other stanzas, using the second stanza for the first recitative, the third stanza for the first aria, the fourth stanza and part of the fifth for the second recitative, and the sixth stanza for the second aria. The Bach scholar Alfred Dürr noted: "The librettist must be credited with the empathy he shows for that fervour which characterizes Nicolai's poem and which has made his hymns into an enduring possession of the Protestant Church."[10] While the identity of the librettist, a "poetically and theologically competent specialist", is not certain, scholars have suggested Andreas Stübel, a former headmaster of the Thomasschule.[5][13]

Bach led the first performance of the cantata on 25 March 1725.[14][15] Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern was to be the last newly composed chorale cantata of Bach's second cantata cycle.[10] If Stübel was the librettist, his death in January 1725 would explain the end of the chorale cantatas in the second cycle, because Bach lost a competent collaborator and source of inspiration.[13] Bach returned to other texts for the remaining liturgical times of Easter, Pentecost and Trinity. The completion of the cycle of chorale cantatas was so important to him that he included the early chorale cantata for Easter, Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, in 1725, and over the following decade added a few chorale cantatas for some missing occasions.[16]

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. Both text and tune of the hymn are retained in the outer choral movements, a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale, which frame a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (soprano (S), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns (Co), two oboes da caccia (Oc), two violins (Vl) with two solo violins (Vs), viola (Va) and basso continuo.[17] A festive scoring like this, including brass, was usually performed on holidays. The duration of the cantata is given as 25 minutes.[9]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr.[17] The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern	Nicolai	Chorale fantasia	SATB	2Co 2Oc	2Vs 2Vl Va	F major	12 8
2	Du wahrer Gottes und Marien Sohn	anon.	Recitative	T
3	Erfüllet, ihr himmlischen göttlichen Flammen	anon.	Aria	S	Oc		B-flat major
4	Ein irdscher Glanz, ein leiblich Licht	anon.	Recitative	B
5	Unser Mund und Ton der Saiten	anon.	Aria	T		2Vs 2Vl Va	F major	3 8
6	Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh	Nicolai	Chorale	SATB	2Co 2Oc	2Vl Va	F major

The scoring provides a rich orchestration. The sparkle of the morning star is illustrated by two solo violins, first in the first chorus, and reappearing with the other strings in the second aria.[18] The sound of the oboe da caccia returns in the first aria. The horn sound returns in the closing chorale, with the second horn enriching the texture of the four-part setting by an independent line.[19] The scoring is reminiscent of Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, written for Epiphany.[15] Bach would later use the pair of horns in Part IV of his Christmas Oratorio, dealing with the naming of Jesus as announced to Mary.[10]

The first movement, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How beautifully the morning star shines),[1] is a chorale fantasia for the chorus.[20] The cantus firmus of the chorale melody is sung by the sopranos.[20] A substantial instrumental ritornello begins the movement, with the solo instruments in the foreground, and also a wide harmonic range in contrast to the chorale which remains mostly in the tonic key of F major.[20] Two solo violins illustrate the sparkle of the morning star.[5] Bach achieves "unusual animation" by setting the hymn not in common time but 12/8.[5] John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, notes that the movement begins intimately with a phrase of the second solo violin, answered by other instruments together and echoed individually, preparing the entrance of the soprano.[15]

The soprano melody in long notes is countered by the lower voices with a version of the theme heard at the beginning in the solo violin. In further lines, the lower voices even enter first with their counterpoint, preparing the chorale tune entry. One phrase stands out as composed in chordal writing: "lieblich, freundlich" (loving, friendly).[1] Motifs from the ritornello return in interludes between the chorale lines.[20]

The tenor expresses in secco recitative the belief "Du wahrer Gottes und Marien Sohn" (You, very son of God and Mary).[1] The text is crafted paraphrasing the second stanza of the hymn, and also alludes to the annunciation from the Gospel reading.[20]

In the first aria, the soprano renders "Erfüllet, ihr himmlischen göttlichen Flammen" (Fill utterly, you divine celestial flames),[1] accompanied by an obbligato oboe da caccia, an instrument in alto range. The instruments illustrate the celestial flames in coloraturas.[19]

Two oboe parts exist for the obbligato instrument, one in the normal clef for an oboe da caccia, the other in a "fingering notation". It is unclear if the latter was meant to help a player not experienced in the instrument, or if actually two players alternated, which would make breathing easier.[20]

In another secco recitative, the bass contrasts earthly light ("Ein irdscher Glanz, ein leiblich Licht rührt meine Seele nicht" (An earthly flash, a corporeal light does not stir my soul))[1] with heavenly light. Melisma embellishment illustrates on both "Freudenschein" (joyful radiance) and "Erquickung" (refreshment).[21] The morning star is a good image for the heavenly light.[20]

The text of the fifth movement, "Unser Mund und Ton der Saiten" (Our mouths and the tones of strings).[1] paraphrases the stanza "Zwingt die Saiten in Cythara" (Pluck the strings of the cittern).[20] The aria is sung by the tenor who, following the text, is accompanied by strings only, including the two solo violins from the first movement.[20] An expression of thanks and praise, it is intensified by a dance-like motion, described as "graceful minuet pulse" by the Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann.[19] The vocal soloist has to master coloraturas on the repeated word "Gesang" (singing).[5]

The closing chorale, "Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh"[22] (How heartily glad I am indeed),[10] is embellished by an independent part of the second horn,[20] while the other instruments double the voices. Thus, the last chorale cantata in the second cantata cycle reaches an "air of baroque festive splendour".[19]