Advent III or Gaudete
17 December 2023 – Today is Advent III or Gaudete, the second Sunday before Christmas. Again there is officially no cantata for today because of Tempus Clausum observed in Leipzig (no music in mass), so the only possible cantatas come from Bach's Weimar period, where Tempus Clausum was not observed during Advent.
The cantata we know of, BWV 186a - Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, was first performed in Weimar, December 13th 1716. But just like with the cantata for Advent II, that score did not survive. So we stick to BWV 186, an expansion on the original that Bach created in Leipzig for Trinitatis VII (in the middle of summer!).
Music for today
- Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186a
(first performance 13 December 1716, expanded in 1723 to BWV 186 for Trinity VII, Weimar period)
Playlist
WBC03-Advent III or Gaudete
Choose one of these streaming services to listen to this playlist:
Image of the day
A reconstruction of the Bach familiy house in Weimar as it may have looked in his lifetime (view from the east). Don't try to look for the house on a visit to the city, because it is now... a parking lot. Visualisation done by the Hummel architecture office in 2011.