# Easter Oratorio

The Easter Oratorio (German: Oster-Oratorium), BWV 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, beginning with "Kommt, eilet und laufet" (Come, hurry and run). Bach composed it in Leipzig, using the music from a congratulatory cantata, Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, or Shepherd Cantata, that he had performed on 23 February for Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. The text of the secular cantata is by Picander, who possibly also adapted it for the church cantata for Easter Sunday. Bach performed this first version of the oratorio on Easter Sunday, 1 April 1725.
The work in eleven movements is festively scored for four vocal soloists representing four Biblical figures, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, oboe d'amore, bassoon, two recorders, transverse flute, strings and continuo. Bach revised the work for several performances. For Easter 1738, he wrote a new autograph score and called the work Oratorio.

## History

Bach composed a Tafel-Music, Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, or Shepherd Cantata, in 1725 for the 43rd birthday of his patron, Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, performed on at Schloss Neu-Augustusburg [de] on 23 February 1725. He used its music for a church cantata for Easter Sunday, and first performed it in Leipzig on 1 April 1725. The author of the Shepherd Cantata was Picander, in their first documented collaboration. It seems likely that he also wrote the text for the Easter cantata, and that Bach planned to reuse the music from the start.
The cantata was first titled Kommt, gehet und eilet. 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.
Bach performed the work at least three more times, polishing details every time. For a performance in 1738, he wrote a new autograph score and called the work Oratorio. In a later version in the 1740s the third movement was expanded from a duet to a four-part chorus.

## Structure and scoring

Unlike Bach's later Christmas Oratorio, the Easter Oratorio has no narrator but has four characters assigned to the four voice parts: Simon Peter (tenor) and John the Apostle (bass), appearing in the first duet hurrying to Jesus' grave and finding it empty, meeting there Mary Magdalene (alto) and "the other Mary", Mary Jacobe (soprano). The choir was present only in the final movement until a later performance in the 1740s when the opening duet was set partly for four voices. The music is festively scored for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, oboe d'amore, bassoon, two recorders, transverse flute, two violins, viola and continuo.
| No. | | | First line |
| 1 | Sinfonia | | |
| 2 | Adagio | | |
| 3 | Aria | tenor, bass | Kommt, eilet und laufet (1st version, Kommt, gehet und eilet), 3rd and 4th versions with Chorus |
| 4 | Recitative | soprano, alto, tenor, bass | O kalter Männer Sinn |
| 5 | Aria | soprano | Seele, deine Spezereien |
| 6 | Recitative | alto, tenor, bass | Hier ist die Gruft |
| 7 | Aria | tenor | Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer |
| 8 | Recitative | soprano, alto | Indessen seufzen wir |
| 9 | Aria | alto | Saget, saget mir geschwinde |
| 10 | Recitative | bass | Wir sind erfreut |
| 11 | Chorus | SATB | Preis und Dank |

## Music

The oratorio opens with two contrasting instrumental movements, an Allegro concerto grosso of the full orchestra with solo sections for trumpets, violins and oboes, and an Adagio oboe melody over "Seufzer" motifs (sighs) in the strings (in 3rd version, solo instrument is a Flute).
The first duet of the disciples was set for chorus in a later version, the middle section remaining a duet. Many runs illustrate the motion toward the grave.
"Saget, saget mir geschwinde", the aria of Mary Magdalene, is based on words from the Song of Songs, asking where to find the beloved, without whom she is "ganz verwaiset und betrübt" (completely orphaned and desolate), set in the middle section as Adagio, different from the original. The words are close to those opening Part Two of the St Matthew Passion.
The final movement in two contrasting sections resembles the Sanctus composed for Christmas 1724 and later part of the Mass in B minor.

## Recordings

The recordings are taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas website.
* Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn, Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, Edith Selig, Claudia Hellmann, Helmut Krebs, Jakob Stämpfli, cond. Fritz Werner, Erato 1964
* Süddeutscher Madrigalchor, Süddeutsches Kammerorchester, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Patricia Johnson, Theo Altmeyer, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, cond. Wolfgang Gönnenwein, HMV 1965
* Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Lisa Larsson, Elisabeth von Magnus, Gerd Türk, Klaus Mertens, cond. Ton Koopman, Erato, 1998
* Gabrieli Consort and Players, cond. Paul McCreesh, Archiv Produktion, 2001