Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach composed for Quinquagesima, the last Sunday before Lent. Bach composed it as an audition piece for the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig and first performed it there on 7 February 1723. The work, which is in five movements, begins with a scene from the Gospel reading in which Jesus predicts his suffering in Jerusalem. Bach directed the first performance of the cantata during a church service.
About Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22 in brief
Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach composed for Quinquagesima, the last Sunday before Lent. Bach composed it as an audition piece for the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig and first performed it there on 7 February 1723. The work, which is in five movements, begins with a scene from the Gospel reading in which Jesus predicts his suffering in Jerusalem. The music is scored for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir, oboe, strings and continuo. Bach directed the first performance of the cantata during a church service, together with another audition piece, Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn, BWV 23. He later parodied some of them as part of his application of the Thomaskanor position for his position of Kapellmeister at the court of Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. The cantatas were based mainly on biblical texts and hymns, such as Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, and the Easter chorale cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden,BWV 4. Bach’s work from this period was mostly released as secular suites, including the orchestral suites, cello suites, and solo sonitas for violin, violin, viola and cello. He was arrested for disobedience in Köthen in December 1717, but the duke in Weimar did not dismiss him and arrested him for disobedience.
The court was a Calvinist and Bach found an employer who was an enthusiastic musician who was also Calvinist, so the court was therefore a good place for Bach to establish himself as a composer. Bach was appointed organist and chamber musician at Weimar on 25 June 1708 at the Court of the co-reigning dukes in Saxe-Weimar, Wilhelm Ernst and his nephew Ernst August. He initially concentrated on the organ, composing major works for the instrument, including Orgelbüchlein, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWVs 565 and the Prelude and Fuguedue in E major, BWv 566. In 1714 he was promoted to Konzertmeister on 2 March 1714, an honour that entailed performing a church Cantata monthly in the Schlosskirche. The first cantatatas he composed in the new position were Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, for Palm Sunday, and Erschallet, ihr Lieder, for Pentecost. Bach later parodies some of these works as church Cantatas, including Die Tag und die Jahre macht machtMacht, for New Year’s Day and the prince’s birthday, including Erschallett, BWV 134a.
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