Non sa che sia dolore (He knows not what sorrow is), BWV 209,[a] is a
secular cantata composed by
Johann Sebastian Bach and possibly first performed in
Leipzig in 1747.[1] With Amore Traditore, it is one of the composer's only two settings of a text in Italian.
History and text
Internal evidence suggests that the text by an unknown
librettist was not written before 1729.[1] The text also contains clues as to the occasion for which it was written. It refers to
Ansbach, Bavaria, and, somewhat confusingly given Bavaria's location, a sea voyage. Mincham draws attention to an interest in Ansbach in Italian music, and suggests that Bach would have known that the city was the home of
Giuseppe Torelli at the end of the 17th century.[2] However, while the identity of the person undertaking the voyage is not clear, it appears to be a German rather than an Italian. It has been suggested that Bach composed this cantata as a farewell for someone leaving Leipzig's academic community such as
Johann Matthias Gesner (1691-1761) or Lorenz Albrecht Beck (1723-1768),[1] both men having connections with Ansbach.
Bach's autograph score does not survive.
The cantata was first published in 1881 in the
Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe, the first complete edition of the composer's works.
Bach may have derived the opening sinfonia in
B minor from a previous concerto. It includes a prominent "baroque 'weeping' figure". The first
recitative uses tonality to underline the meaning of the "quasi-philosophical" text. The following
da capo aria is in
E minor and features a flute
obbligato. The second recitative is short and
secco, contrasting sharply with the final "ebulliently major" da capo aria.[2]
Recordings
Agnes Giebel (soprano), Das Leonhardt-Consort
Gustav Leonhardt. J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 203 & BWV 209. Telefunken, 1964.