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In 1723 Bach became director of music for the main churches of Leipzig. The job meant a cantata, a piece for choir, soloists and orchestra, for nearly 60 Sundays and feast days a year. In his first year he composed most of them new, week after week, alongside some reworked earlier pieces.

Creative reflection based on Bach context

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Bach's official title was Thomaskantor, music master of St Thomas School, and he held the post from 1723 until his death in 1750. Each cantata had to suit that Sunday's Bible readings and was performed during the service at St Thomas or St Nicholas church. His first annual cycle began on 30 May 1723; alongside the new works he restaged and adapted some cantatas from his earlier post in Weimar. Music paused for most of Advent and Lent, the quiet seasons before Christmas and Easter. Senior pupils of the school sang in the choir and helped rehearse and copy out the parts by hand. His obituary, written by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel and a former pupil, speaks of five complete annual cycles. More than 200 of his cantatas survive; many others are lost.

Türkçe oku
Bach 1723'te Leipzig'in başlıca kiliselerinin müzik yöneticisi oldu. Bu görev, yılda 60'a yakın pazar ve yortu günü için birer kantat demekti; kantat, koro, solistler ve orkestra için yazılan bir eserdir. İlk yılında, önceki eserlerinden uyarladığı birkaçı dışında, bunların çoğunu hafta hafta yeni baştan besteledi.

Bach'ın resmî unvanı “Thomaskantor”du, yani Aziz Thomas Okulu'nun müzik hocasıydı; bu görevi 1723'ten 1750'deki ölümüne kadar sürdürdü. Her kantatın o pazar okunacak Kutsal Kitap bölümlerine uyması gerekiyordu ve eser, Aziz Thomas ya da Aziz Nikolaus Kilisesi'ndeki ayin sırasında seslendiriliyordu. İlk yıllık döngüsü 30 Mayıs 1723'te başladı; yeni eserlerin yanı sıra Weimar'daki önceki görevinden kalma bazı kantatları da uyarlayıp yeniden seslendirdi. Advent ile Büyük Perhiz'de, yani Noel ve Paskalya öncesindeki sessiz dönemlerin büyük bölümünde kiliselerde kantat seslendirilmezdi. Okulun büyük öğrencileri koroda şarkı söyler, provalara ve partisyonların elle kopyalanmasına yardım ederdi. Oğlu Carl Philipp Emanuel ile eski bir öğrencisinin kaleme aldığı anma yazısı, beş tam yıllık kantat döngüsünden söz eder. Kantatlarından 200'den fazlası günümüze ulaştı; pek çoğu ise kayboldu.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Bach cantata
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