The plot of
The Contest between Phoebus and Pan, BWV 201, is based on the "Ears of a Donkey" (, ) part of Midas's story, as found in the eleventh book of
Ovid's
Metamorphoses. In the ancient story there is an interaction of four characters:
Pan, playing a
pan flute, and
Apollo (a.k.a. Phoebus), playing a
lyre (or:
cithara), have a musical contest of which the mountain god
Tmolus is the arbiter. Tmolus decides in favour of the charming melody produced by Apollo, a judgement which is contested by Midas, who prefers Pan's rustic sounds. Tmolus punishes Midas for his stupidity by turning his ears into the ears of a donkey. In Picander's libretto there are two additional characters:
Mercury, god of commerce, and
Momus, god of mockery. Both Mercury and Apollo were symbolical representations of Leipzig: Mercury of its business aspect (exemplified e.g. by its fairs), and Apollo of its learning (exemplified e.g. by its university). The work has six
arias, one for each of the six characters.
Bucolic arias (Momus, Pan, Midas) alternate with lyrical ones (Phoebus, Tmolus, Mercury). Each aria is preceded and followed by a
recitative, which gives a total of seven recitatives. In the opening and closing movements all six voices of the characters sing as a chorus. Together with these two movements the total number of movements is 15. The orchestral accompaniment consists of three
trumpets (TrI, TrII, TrIII),
timpani (Ti), two
traversos (TraI, TraII), two
oboes (ObI, ObII),
oboe d'amore (Oba),
strings (Str) and
basso continuo, which plays throughout. The string section consists of first
violins (VnI), second violins (VnII) and a part for
viola(s) (Va). All the instruments, except the oboe d'amore, join in the initial and final choruses. In the opening chorus, the winds are summoned to recede, so that an environment without background noise will make the sounds of what will follow clearer, and make an unhampered echo possible. The first recitative starts with Phoebus disputing that Pan's song would excel his own, and Pan boasting about his own musical qualities. Momus starts to mock Pan, and continues to do so in his ensuing aria. In the second recitative, Mercury suggests that the two contestants each choose a judge, so Tmolus and Midas are chosen by Phoebus and Pan respectively. Then Mercury bids to give attention, after which Apollo sings his aria, a love song to
Hyacinth. In the recitative following that aria Momus invites Pan to step up: Pan obliges and sings his dance aria, employing some of the effects customary in comic opera – the over-all effect of the aria being a musical joke. Bach later re-used the music of this aria in the
Peasant Cantata. Bach's music does not refer to the instruments associated with Phoebus and Pan in their respective arias, i.e. a
lute-like instrument for Apollo and some sort of
flute for Pan. In the fourth recitative, Mercury invites the judges to speak out: Tmolus begins, and sings an aria in favour of Apollo. Then Pan invites Midas to do the same, who, in his aria, declares Pan to be the victor. Where Midas sings about his ears, an instrumental donkey's bray resounds, prefiguring his punishment. Then follows a recitative in which all singers participate: Momus, Mercury, Tmolus and Phoebus reproach Midas his ill judgement. After a short plea for mercy, Phoebus and Mercury punish him with the ears of an ass. After Pan's and Midas's retorts Mercury sings his aria about whom earned the fool's cap. The last recitative is for Momus, who sends Midas to the woods, declaring he belongs in the company of those who judge too quickly, and invites Phoebus to song. The final chorus praises the sounds of strings, as belonging to the gods. == Recordings ==