Bach Chorale Dich Essay

Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele or “Adorn yourself, O dear soul” is a chorale cantata written by Johann Sebastian Bach. A chorale cantata is a church cantata that’s based on both the melody and text of a single hymn. The cantata is based on the Lutheran chorale tune by Johann Crüger, Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele. Bach composed this specific one in his second annual cycle of writing cantatas, also known as, Jabrgang II. It was written for the twentieth day after Trinity, on October 22, 1724. The piece has seven movements, with the chorale’s tune placed in specific places throughout, along with the messages of the gospel reading that was used for the service that day. Christoph Wolff explains in Johann Sebastian Bach the Learned Musician the typical format of Bach’s chorale cantatas. He says that all of the Leipzig cantata texts that he used followed a standard pattern with the two parts of a Lutheran serman: the explicatio and applicatio. …show more content…
Someone shows up dressed inappropriately for the occasion, so the king orders that the servants throw him out into the darkness. This parable relates to the text of the chorale used in this cantata. In Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, the soul is preparing itself to enter God’s feast in heaven. In the opening stanza of the cantata the text asks the soul to adorn itself, and dress nice enough for the occasion. Christ is asking the adorned soul to be his guest up in heaven, just like the King inviting people to his son’s wedding. Both are asking their guests to be suitably prepared, or else they will be cast out into the darkness, representing a strong connection between the two texts. The first and last movement of the piece take the text of the hymn and leaves it unchanged, while the inner movements of the cantata paraphrase the text to adapt to the structure of the recitatives and