J.S. Bach – Easter Oratorio, BWV 249

 

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The Amsterdam Baroque Choir
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
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The Easter Oratorio (in German: Oster-Oratorium), BWV 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, Kommt, eilet und laufet (Come, hasten and run). Bach composed it in Leipzig and first performed it on 1 April 1725.

BWV 249 Composition byJohann Sebastian Bach
Thomaskirche, Leipzig
Title	Easter Oratorio
Original	Kommt, eilet und laufet
BWV	249
Related	based on BWV 249a
Genre	oratorio
Occasion	Easter
Performed	1 April 1725 – Leipzig
Movements	11
Text poet	Picander?
Scoring
Solo voices	S A T B
Choir	SATB
Instruments	3Tr Ti 2Fl Ft 2

The first version of the work was completed as a cantata for Easter Sunday in Leipzig on 1 April 1725, then under the titleKommt, gehet und eilet.^[1] It was named “oratorio” and given the new title only in a version revised in 1735. In a later version in the 1740s the third movement was expanded from a duet to a four-part chorus.^[1] The work is based on a secular cantata, the so-called Shepherd Cantata Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a which is now lost, although thelibretto survives. Its author is Picander who is also likely the author of the oratorio’s text. The work is opened by two instrumental movements that are probably taken from a concerto of the Köthen period. It seems possible that the third movement is based on the concerto’s finale.^[1]

o.			First line
1	Sinfonia
2	Adagio
3	Aria	tenor, bass	Kommt, eilet und laufet
4	Recitativo	soprano, alto, tenor, bass	O kalter Männer Sinn
5	Aria	soprano	Seele, deine Spezereien
6	Recitativo	alto, tenor, bass	Hier ist die Gruft
7	Aria	tenor	Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer
8	Recitativo	soprano, alto	Indessen seufzen wir
9	Aria	alto	Saget, saget mir geschwinde
10	Recitativo	bass	Wir sind erfreut
11	Chorus	SATB	Preis und Dank