Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a
Bach cantata
Neu-Augustusburg Castle, where the cantata was first performed
Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen (Fly, vanish, flee, o worries), BWV 249a,[a] is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. First performed in 1725, the work is also known as "Shepherd Cantata" or "Shepherds' Cantata" (German: Schäferkantate). Bach reworked the music in his Easter Oratorio.
In 1725 Bach was working in Leipzig and the text was written by Picander, a librettist he met there. The text was published, and thus survived. The music is lost but can be reconstructed from a related work, the Easter Oratorio, which Bach also premiered in 1725. The German researcher Friedrich Smend determined that the order of movements was not changed in the Easter Oratorio, and that therefore the music of the Shepherd Cantata could be reconstructed. The missing recitatives were added by musicologist Hermann Keller. It is not known if the two instrumental movements opening the oratorio were already part of the cantata.
Scoring and structure
The simple story shows four shepherds leaving their flock to congratulate. The shepherds are Doris (soprano), Sylvia (alto), Menalcas (tenor) and Damoetas (bass). The orchestra is festively scored for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, bassoon, two recorders, transverse flute, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.[1]
Sinfonia: Allegro – Adagio
Aria à duetto (tenor, bass; da capo: soprano, alto): Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen
Recitative (soprano, alto, tenor, bass): Was hör ich da? Wer unterbricht uns hier
Aria (soprano): Hundertausend Scheicheleien
Recitative (soprano, alto, tenor, bass): Wie aber, schönste Schäferin
