[Blgspops] Best of Bach

[Julie Methot]

I looked it up on Wikipedia today:Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The lively hunt is all my heart's desire), BWV 208.1, BWV 208,[1] also known as the Hunting Cantata, is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 31st birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels on 23 February 1713. A performance lasts about forty minutes. The aria "Schafe können sicher weiden" ("Sheep May Safely Graze") is the most familiar part of this cantata.The text is by Salomon Franck, the Weimar court poet,

Here are the words for that piece:
Schafe können sicher weiden
Wo ein guter Hirte wacht.

Wo Regenten wohl regieren
Kann man Ruh' und Friede spüren
Und was Länder glücklich macht.

Sheep may safely graze and pasture
In a watchful shepherd's sight.

Those who rule with wisdom guiding
Bring to hearts a peace abiding
Bless a land with joy made bright.









The voices in the cantata are Diana (soprano), Pales (soprano) - a deity of shepherds and flocks, could be either gender, Endymion (tenor) -both a hunter and a shepherd, and Pan (bass). Good government is also a theme of the cantata. 

I hope this adds to your enjoyment of a lovely piece! 

Julie Methot
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