Bach Cantata Day Information:
Birthday of August III of Poland, Elector of Saxony
Occurs every October 7th. Not a liturgical day.
Occurrences:
Music for this day
- Schleicht, spielende Wellen, und murmelt gelinde, BWV 206
(first performance 7 oktober 1736, Leipzig period)
This day marks the birthday of Augustus III of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Imagine getting a Bach cantata for your birthday! Well, being head of state at Bach's time and Bach being court composer probably grants you that prerogative.
So on October 7th, 1736, Bach created Schleicht, spielende Wellen, und murmelt gelinde, BWV 206, for him in Leipzig, with a performance in Café Zimmermann.
The librettist is unknown, but most likely it is Picander. He uses the allegory of four rivers that play an important part in the life of Augustus: the Weichsel in Poland; the Elbe which flows through Dresden, the residence of Augustus; the Donau, linked with the family of his wife Maria Josepha, the Habsburgs; and finally the small river Pleisse which flows through Leipzig.
Extra information
The Netherlands Bach Society website has more information and a performance of BWV 206:
https://bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-206/
Playlist
WBCF1007-Birthday of August III of Poland, Elector of Saxony
Choose one of these streaming services to listen to this playlist:
Image of the day
A portrait of Augustus III of Poland, aged 19, done in 1715 by the French painter Nicolas de Largillière.