Cantata BWV 30Freue dich, erlöste Schar

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Translation

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Analysis

Movement 5 is a stand-out, but the whole thing is excellent, though the music bears no relation to the textual meaning, because this entire cantata is a 'parody': that is, music written for another occasion entirely -in this case, a cantata (30a) that was written to celebrate the appointment of J.C. Hennicke as feudal lord of Wiederau- is re-used and modified to suit a new occasion. What was originally a celebratory, secular piece has thus been bent to fit a sacred text suitable for the Feast of St. John (or vice versa). One cannot then expect music and words to bounce off each other in quite the way you could for an original composition.

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