Christiana Mariana von Ziegler was a German poet and writer
Background
Christiana Mariana Romanus was born in Leipzig, where her father served as mayor in 1701. She returned to her home city, where despite difficult family circumstances - father had been imprisoned in the Königstein Fortress, where he spent the rest of his life - she lived in the family home, the Romanushaus, with her mother.
Career
She is best known for the texts of nine cantatas, which Johann Sebastian Bach composed after Easter of 1725. The house became a literary and musical salon. Johann Christoph Gottsched encouraged her poetic activity.
She died in Frankfurt an der Oder.
Bach moved to Leipzig in 1723 to take up the post of Thomaskantor. In this role he set about composing a large number of cantatas for performance in the city"s churches.
Whoever his original librettist was, Bach appears to have been looking for a new librettist in 1724, and this may be when he met Ziegler. The nine cantatas set by Bach to texts by Ziegler are:
Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103, 22 April 1725
Es ist euch gut, daß ich hingehe, BWV 108, 29 April 1725
Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten in meinem Namen, BWV 87, 6 May 1725
Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein, BWV 128, 10 May 1725
Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 183, 13 May 1725
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 74, 20 May 1725
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68, 21 May 1725
Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen, BWV 175, 22 May 1725
Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding, BWV 176, 27 May 1725
Ziegler published not only the texts set by Bach, but others not set by him which together make a complete cycle.
There has been speculation as to whether Bach considered extending the collaboration after the 1725 performances (when he turned to other librettists such as Picander).
John Eliot Gardiner suggests that the relationship between the two may have been strained by Bach"s habit of amending her texts to suit his purposes. On the other hand, the collaboration appears to have been quite close (although in some cases Bach set Ziegler"s words by adapting music he had composed earlier).
Membership
She became the first woman member of Gottsched"s literary society, the Deutsche Gesellschaft.