Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147a
| Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben | |
|---|---|
| BWV 147a | |
| Church cantata by J. S. Bach | |
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| Related | basis for BWV 147 |
| Occasion | Fourth Sunday in Advent |
| Composed | 1716: Weimar |
| Movements | 6 |
| Cantata text | Salomo Franck |
| Vocal | SATB choir and solo |
| Instrumental |
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Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and mouth and deed and life),BWV 147a, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Weimar in 1716 for the fourth Sunday in Advent, 20 December. It is uncertain if the work was performed then. He later expanded the work in 1723 as Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147.
On 2 March 1714 Bach was appointed concertmaster of the Weimar court capelle of the co-reigning dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. As concertmaster, he assumed primary responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the Schlosskirche (palace church), on a monthly schedule. He likely wrote the work in 1716 for the fourth Sunday of Advent, although it may not have been performed at the time. The prescribed readings for the day were from the Epistle to the Philippians () and the Gospel of John (). The cantata uses a text by the court poet Salomo Franck, published in the cantata cycle Evangelische Sonn- und Fest-Tages-Andachten in 1717.
Bach's superior Drese had died on 1 December that year, and Bach seemed eager to show his capabilities by composing cantatas for three Sundays in succession, including this cantata. When he realized that not he but Drese's son would succeed as Kapellmeister, he stopped working on them. He broke up the autograph score after the first movement, and would not compose another cantata for Weimar.
The work was scored for four solo voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) and a four-part choir. As the music is now lost, the cantata's instrumentation is unclear, but was likely similar to BWV 147. The piece has six movements:
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