Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212


Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis|212, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was entitled the "Cantate burlesque" by Bach himself, but is now popularly known as the Peasant Cantata. It is the last definitely dated Bach cantata.

History and text

This cantata's libretto was written by Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander, and was written for performance on 30 August 1742 at near Leipzig. On that day the hereditary feudal lord and Kreishauptmann,, chamberlain to the Elector of Saxony, celebrated his thirty-sixth birthday with a huge fireworks display and, as was customary, took homage from the peasants on the same occasion. It is thought that Picander asked Bach to set his poetry to music.
The text describes how an unnamed farmer laughs with the farmer's wife Mieke about the tax collector's machinations while praising the economy of Dieskau's wife, ending by especially cheering on Dieskau. In places it uses the dialect of Upper Saxon German.

Scoring and structure

The cantata is scored for two voices: the farmer and Mieke. The instrumentation includes a string trio of violin, viola and basso continuo, accompanied by a flute, horn and second violin respectively.
The piece has 24 movements, more than any other Bach cantata:
  1. Overture
  2. Duet aria: Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet
  3. Duet recitative: Nu, Mieke, gib dein Guschel immer her
  4. Aria : Ach, es schmeckt doch gar zu gut
  5. Recitative : Der Herr ist gut: Allein der Schösser
  6. Aria : Ach, Herr Schösser, geht nicht gar zu schlimm
  7. Recitative : Es bleibt dabei
  8. Aria : Unser trefflicher
  9. Duet recitative: Er hilft uns allen, alt und jung
  10. Aria : Das ist galant
  11. Recitative : Und unsre gnädge Frau
  12. Aria : Fünfzig Taler bares Geld
  13. Recitative : Im Ernst ein Wort!
  14. Aria : Klein-Zschocher müsse
  15. Recitative : Das ist zu klug vor dich
  16. Aria : Es nehme zehntausend Dukaten
  17. Recitative : Das klingt zu liederlich
  18. Aria : Gib, Schöne
  19. Recitative : Du hast wohl recht
  20. Aria : Dein Wachstum sei feste und lache vor Lust!
  21. Duet recitative: Und damit sei es auch genung
  22. Aria : Und dass ihr's alle wisst
  23. Duet recitative: Mein Schatz, erraten!
  24. Chorus: ''Wir gehen nun, wo der Dudelsack''

    Music

In accordance with the nature of the text, Bach kept the musical phrases short and the accompaniment mostly simple. He repeatedly drew on popular dance forms, folk and popular melodies ; for the duet recitative "Nu, Mieke, gib dein Guschel immer her", he quoted the fast part of the tune of "Großvatertanz" for the orchestra following the girl's words, "If it were only that! I know you already, you ruffian, you want always more after that." knowing that the audience was aware of the omitted words, "with you and me into the featherbed". He also used excerpts from his own pieces.

Recordings