Cantata BWV 193, Ihr Tore zu Zion - Johann Sebastian Bach 'Helmuth Rilling'

Composition Year: 1726 or 1727 in Leipzig
First Performance: 1727-08-25 in Leipzig
Dedication: Town Council Inauguration
Recorded: Gedächtniskirche Stuttgart, Juni/Juli/Oktober 1983
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Performers:
Arleen Augér – Soprano • Julia Hamari – Alto
Hannes, Bernhard & Wolfgang Läubin – Tromba • Norbert Schmitt – Timpani • Günther Passin – Oboe, Oboe d’amore • Diethelm Jonas – Oboe • Rainer Schottstedt – Fagotto • Susanne Müller-Hornbach – Violoncello • Harro Bertz – Contrabbasso • Hans-Joachim Erhard – Organo • Michael Behringer – Cembalo
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Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart • Bach-Collegium Stuttgart • Helmuth Rilling - Conductor
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00:01 1. Chorus: Ihr Tore zu Zion
04:22 2. Recitative (soprano): Der Hüter Israels entschläft noch schlummert nicht
05:36 3. Aria (soprano): Gott, wir danken deiner Güte
11:53 4. Recitative (alto): O Leipziger Jerusalem
12:51 5. Aria (alto): Sende, Herr, den Segen ein
~ 6. Recitative: [lost]
16:18 7. Chorale: ab initio repetatur
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Work:
Ihr Tore zu Zion also called Ihr Pforten zu Zion (You gates of Zion), BWV 193,[a] is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Ratswechsel, the inauguration of a new town council, in 1727 and first performed it on 25 August 1727. The music survives in an incomplete state.
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History and words:
While living in Leipzig, Bach composed several cantatas for the Ratswechsel, the inauguration of the newly elected town council. This event took place in a festive service, which was not part of the liturgical year, on the Monday following the feast of St. Bartholomew on 24 August. In 1723, Bach's first year in Leipzig, he began the series with Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn, BWV 119. Another cantata was performed in 1725, but only the text has survived. Bach first performed Ihr Tore zu Zion, BWV 193 on 25 August 1727 at St. Nicholas Church.
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The words are by an unknown poet, who is assumed by Christoph Wolff to have been Bach's regular collaborator Picander, the librettist of the related secular cantata. The text identifies Leipzig with the holy city of Jerusalem, praising God as the protector of the "Leipziger Jerusalem". Ideas from psalms are included, using Psalm 87:2, "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." in movement 1, and Psalm 121:4, "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." in movement 2.
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The work shared material with a secular cantata which premiered the same month. Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter, BWV 193a, was a dramma per musica (drama for music) composed for the name day of Augustus II the Strong on 3 August 1727. Movements 1, 3 and 5 of Ihr Tore zu Zion are probably a parody of the secular work. However, the music of this piece is also lost. According to Alfred Dürr, both works may include earlier music, perhaps composed in Köthen. One movement of the text of Ihr Tore zu Zion, a recitative, is lost. The first chorus is repeated at the end as is stated at the end of most extant parts ("Chorus ab initio repetatur").
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The surviving music was first published in 1894. It cannot be given a satisfactory performance without a certain amount of reconstruction of lost material, as the parts for tenor, bass, basso continuo and other instruments (probably trumpets and timpani, maybe also flutes) for all of the music are missing. A reconstruction was made for Helmuth Rilling in 1983 by Reinhold Kubik. Ton Koopman made a version for his 1999 recording, adding a recitative for bass at the end. Other reconstructions of the work were made by Michael Radulesco and Alan Dergal Rautenberg. To achieve the scoring Bach usually used for festive occasions, all of these reconstructions restore the missing tenor and bass parts in the opening chorus as well as the basso continuo for the whole work and add trumpets and timpani
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Bach Cantatas website: https://www.bach-cantatas.com/
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ATTRIBUTION
Music contained in this video is licensed to, Hänssler-Verlag, Germany