Candlemas in Leipzig

Abstract ‘Ich habe genung’ (I Have Enough), Cantata (BWV) 82, is for solo voice and orchestra, most probably composed for the celebration in Bach’s Leipzig churches of Candlemas on 2 February 1727. In the Lutheran tradition of Bach’s time Candlemas celebrated the purification of Mary as well as Christ as the one light to lighten the Gentiles. The first version of Cantata 82 was for a bass soloist. Bach later created versions for a soprano soloist, and for a mezzo-soprano or high alto soloist. The cantata has five movements, symmetrically arranged Aria-Recitative-Aria-Recitative-Aria. The chapter is organized under six headings: “What Is Candlemas?”; “From Text to Music, Movement by Movement”; “More on the Text and Its Structure”; “Contexts of the First Performances”; “A Personal Connection?”; and “Cantata 82 Today.” The cantata is written for a small instrumental and vocal ensemble, which makes it suitable for chamber performance also in non-liturgical settings. Anna Magdalena Bach copied two arias from the cantata into one of her two surviving music books, which suggests she may have sung them at home or elsewhere. New evidence is included to suggest that the cantata might have been first performed on 15 January 1717 at the memorial service of the famous citizen Jacob Leupold.