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Cantata BWV 80, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" This is arguably the best known of Bach's cantatas (fans of Cantata No. 140, "Wachet auf," might disagree, but it would certainly be a close contest). Certainly, this cantata employs the most famous of all Lutheran chorales, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (A mighty fortress is our God), a chorale written by Luther himself. Bach's congregation at Thomaskirche would definitely have known this melody by heart. Bach wrote Cantata 80 for the Feast of the Reformation, celebrated annually on October 31. Bach sets the cantata in eight movements. The chorale appears in four of the eight:
In case you're not sure of how it goes, or if you feel like singing it right now, here's the complete chorale tune:
I did not include the words, because they change in each appearance during the cantata, based on whichever verse Bach is using at the time. You'll also notice a lot of fermatas (hold signs, sometimes called "bird's eyes"). Although many conductors and congregations observe each one carefully, holding the selected pitch longer than notated, for Bach, this was mostly a means of indicating the ends of phrases. At the end of a phrase, pause briefly, take a breath, and move on. It's not unusual in his chorale cantatas for Bach to have an elaborate opening movement in which the chorale melody is woven into the fabric of the entire movement -- look, for example, at the opening chorale fantasia of another famous chorale cantata, Cantata BWV 140, "Wachet auf" But more commonly in these chorale fantasias, Bach writes a rather unadulterated version of the tune in the soprano line, in long notes so it stands out from the busy texture around it. In this cantata, however, Bach treats each phrase of the chorale fugally throughout the first movement. Perhaps since this tune was so well known by the congregation, Bach felt that the simple presentation of the tune in the soprano line wasn't necessary: surely everyone in the congregation at Thomaskirche would recognize the melody. Each phrase is also introduced with some variation, when compared to the basic chorale tune above. In some cases, the rhythm is varied. In others, ornamentation is added to the line. Here are some examples of how the tune is treated in this movement. Click on any score to hear the music. The first phrase, as shown in the tenor line (notice the extra pitches added):
Because each phrase (and if you count the fermatas, you'll see there are nine) is treated fugally, with separate entrances in at least four parts, this movement takes a very long time to unfold. The second movement, marked "aria," is a duet for soprano and bass. It maintains the 4/4 meter and D major key of the opening movement. What was described above as common in the chorale fantasias -- using the tune in slow notes in the soprano, surrounding by busier lines in all other parts—is in fact what happens in this movement. Here, too, Bach ornaments the well-known chorale melody:
It is probably not surprising to find this use of the chorale melody when we realize that this was originally the opening movement of an earlier Bach cantata, BWV 80a, "Alles as von Gott geboren," written while Bach was in Weimar. This earlier version was written for performance during Lent, a penitential season; this is likely the reason that Bach did not compose such an elaborate opening, which would have been inappropriate for this somber time. Getting back to the example above: notice the extra notes on the word "Macht" which means "might." Bach makes this the mightiest word in the phrase -- one of many examples of word painting in this and other Bach works. This movement also contains an interesting combination of texts:
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