About this work
Written for the funeral of Queen Christiane Eberhardine, Cantata BWV 198 turns a public tribute into a theatre of mourning. Flutes, oboes d’amore, violas da gamba, and lute darken the orchestra without extinguishing it. The choir proceeds in blocks and interwoven lines, as if the ceremony were seeking breath in the midst of loss.
In the collective movements, begin by fixing the rhythm of the German text. Consonants must remain together without shortening important vowels. Then hear the unusual instruments as partners in the phrase, not as added colour: their gentler attack changes the weight of the choir and encourages the strings to play more lightly.
Silences have a precise expressive function here. Count them to the end and maintain the tension of the breath, especially before the choir returns. In the arias, seek a sustained line rather than immediate pathos. The contrast between solitary speech and the public response then forms naturally, with a gravity that does not need to be constantly loud.
What the document containsCantata BWV 198 for soloists, choir, and orchestra;a 68-page PDF;no accompanying MIDI file.The score gives the complete instrumentation of this funeral ode in 2 parts.