Watch now, praying, praying, watch now
Cantata for the 26th Sunday after Trinity BWV 70 (BWV3 70.2), 1723
First performed on the 26th Sunday after Trinity in 1723, Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! (Watch! Pray! Pray! Watch!), BWV 70.2 is in two-parts. The cantata’s first part is heard before the sermon and the second after. This form is due to the work’s history. Originally composed for the second Advent Sunday in 1716, the cantata was expanded from 6 to 11 movements with some textual additions to create recitatives and an additional chorale at the end of the first part. Since this was undertaken while retaining the original text, this edition can also be used for a performance of the Advent cantata BWV 70.1, of which only fragments have survived (movements 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9 are then omitted).
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text (without music) for download, html file, Singing text, english translationhtml file, Singing text, english translation (Sample)Part 1
1 Coro
Watch now, praying, praying watch now,
and prepare ev’ry hour
till the Lord of grace and power
comes to end the world with raging.
2 Recitativo (Basso)
Be fearful, sinners fixed and stubborn!
There comes a day whose dreadful sentence none can flee:
he comes to earth to judge you strictly,
o sinners, bringing quickly your everlasting sadness.
But you, who are God’s chosen children,
know him as source of all your gladness.
The Saviour brings you in when all things break apart
to see his face serene and bright,
so tremble not!
3 Aria (Alto)
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text (without music) for download, html file, Singing text, originalhtml file, Singing text, original (Sample)
I. Teil
1 Coro
Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!
seid bereit,
allezeit,
bis der Herr der Herrlichkeit
dieser Welt ein Ende machet.
2 Recitativo (Solo B)
Erschrecket, ihr verstockten Sünder!
Ein Tag bricht an,
vor dem sich niemand bergen kann:
Er eilt mit dir zum strengen Rechte,
O! sündliches Geschlechte,
zum ewgen Herzeleide.
Doch euch, erwählte Gotteskinder,
ist er ein Anfang wahrer Freude.
Der Heiland holet euch, wenn alles fällt und bricht,
vor sein erhöhtes Angesicht;
drum zaget nicht!
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text (without music) for download, html file, Introductory text, Englishhtml file, Introductory text, English (Sample)
Abridged foreword of the Edition Carus 31.070
Uwe Wolf
Translation: John CoombsWachet! betet! betet! wachet! BWV 70 for the 26th Sunday after Trinity 17231 (21 November) belongs to the first Leipzig annual cycle of cantatas, based on earlier Weimar cantatas. The model for this composition, the similarly entitled cantata BWV 70a for the 2nd Sunday in Advent 1716 had to be radically revised (like BWV 147a and 186a), because this cantata could not be used in Leipzig on the 2nd through 4th Sundays in Advent, since no elaborate church music was performed in Leipzig during the preChristmas fasting period.
Bach wished to use these cantatas again, so he had to rewrite them for different Sundays or feast days of the church year. It was to the advantage of Bach and his librettist2 that the cantatas of the cycle by the Weimar Court poet Salomon Franck were without recitatives; this made it possible for a cantata to be modernized by the addition of the recitatives between the arias, and thus considerably extended (movements 2, 4, 6, 9). In this enlarged form the cantata – without the Weimar aria texts being altered – took on a different character, now related to some extent to the Gospel for the 26th Sunday after Trinity. The
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text (without music) for download, html file, Introductory text, Germanhtml file, Introductory text, German (Sample)
GekürztesVorwort der Ausgabe Carus 31.070
Uwe Wolf
Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! BWV 70 zum 26. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 1723 (21. November) gehört zu jenen Kantaten des ersten Leipziger Kantatenjahrgangs, die auf Weimarer Vorläufern basieren. Die Vorlage zu dieser Komposition, die Kantate gleichen Titels BWV 70a zum zweiten Advent 1716, musste dabei (ähnlich wie auch BWV 147a und 186a) einer grundlegenden Umgestaltung unterzogen werden, da es in Leipzig für diese Kantaten zum 2. bis 4. Advent keine Verwendung gab; an jenen Sonntagen der vorweihnachtlichen Fastenzeit schwieg nämlich in Leipzig die hohe Kirchenmusik.
Wollte Bach die Kantaten weiterverwenden, musste er sie somit für einen anderen Sonn- oder Feiertag des Kirchenjahres umschreiben. Es kam Bach und seinem Textdichter dabei zugute, dass es sich bei jenem Jahrgang des Weimarer Hofdichters Salomon Franck um Kantatendichtungen ohne Rezitative handelte; dies eröffnete die Möglichkeit, die Kantate durch Hinzufügung von Rezitativen zwischen den Arien zu modernisieren und dabei zugleich erheblich zu erweitern (Sätze 2, 4, 6, 9). In diesen zusätzlichen Texten wird der Kantate – ohne weitere Eingriffe in die Weimarer Arientexte – eine andere Ausrichtung
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Additional product information
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Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach
| 1685-1750Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most important composers of Western music history. He came from a widely ramified musical dynasty, which produced numerous musicians and organists in the Thuringian-Saxon area.
Bach vocal
Ever since Carus-Verlag was founded in 1972, publishing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has been a special focus for us. In the 2017 Reformation anniversary year we completed the Bach vocal project. Bach's complete sacred vocal works are now available in modern Urtext editions, together with performance material. A complete edition of all the full scores is also available in a high quality box set. Personal details
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Editor
Reinhold Kubik
| 1942
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Songwriter / Librettist
Salomon Franck
| 1659-1725
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Continuo realization
Paul Horn
| 1922-2016Paul Horn war ein deutscher Kirchenmusiker, Organist, Komponist und Musikwissenschaftler. Er studierte Kirchenmusik und Orgel an der Evangelischen Kirchenmusikschule Esslingen am Neckar bei Hans-Arnold Metzger und Musikwissenschaft, Theologie und Geschichte an der Universität Tübingen. Seine berufliche Laufbahn begann als Kantor an der Evangelischen Michaelskirche in Stuttgart-Degerloch. 1954 wurde er Kantor an der Evangelischen Stadtkirche Ravensburg, eine Position, die er bis zu seiner Pensionierung innehatte. Als Musikwissenschaftler arbeitete Horn bis ins hohe Alter eng mit Carus zusammen. So stammen zahlreiche Carus-Klavierauszüge aus seiner Feder. Personal details
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Translator
Jean Lunn
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Frequent questions about this work
Is it also possible to perform the original version of the cantata from 1716 using the Carus edition?
As Bach incorporated all the movements from the original Weimar version into the Leipzig cantata, the Weimar cantata for the 2nd Sunday of Advent can also be performed with this edition. Just movements 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, and 11 would then be performed.
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