The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus and always falls on February 2. It is also known as the Feast of the Purification of Mary. A woman who gave birth to a child was considered unclean for 40 days, after which she had to go to the temple for a purification rite and also to present her first-born son to the priests. According to the Gospel story, an old man named Simeon recognized the baby Jesus as the Christ. In fact, God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen Christ. He now expresses his joy at meeting Christ in a hymn, "Nunc Dimittis," which has been set to music many times - and then he dies. The Lutheran feast of the Purgation of the Virgin Mary is therefore always a sign of acceptance of death.
The Gospel briefly mentions Mary's purification and goes into detail about Simeon, who was prophesied that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. His hymn Nunc dimittis ("Lord, now you let your servant go in peace") is an integral part of Compline and Anglican Evensong.
The Feast of the Purification is also called Candlemas and traditionally concludes the Christmas-Epiphany season. While in some countries Christmas decorations are taken down on Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve), in others they are taken down on Candlemas. On this day, candles, both church and private, are blessed for use during the rest of the year - the blessed candles serving as a symbol of the light of the world.
Readings:
Epistle: Malachi 3:1–4, the Lord will come to his temple
Gospel: Luke 2:22–32, the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus in the temple, followed by Simeon's prophesy of Christ
Cantata Studies:
Bach Cantatas Website | Simon Crouch | Emmanuel Music | Julian Mincham | Wikipedia | Eduard van Hengel (in Dutch) | Bachipedia (Bach-Stiftung) | All of Bach (Netherlands Bach Society) | Companion (Oxford U.P.) | Bach: The Learned Musician (Wolff) | Music in the Castle of Heaven (Gardiner)
[Simeon's Song of Praise, by Aert de Gelder (1700–1710)]
Cantatas:
- Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde, BWV 83, 2 February 1724
Aria (alto): Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde
Aria (Chorale e recitativo, bass): Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener in Friede fahren, wie du gesaget hast - Was uns als Menschen schrecklich scheint
Aria (tenor): Eile, Herz, voll Freudigkeit
Recitativo (alto): Ja, merkt dein Glaube noch viel Finsternis
Chorale: Es ist das Heil und selig Licht
"Joyful time in the new covenant"
Text & translation
Scored for alto, tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir in the chorale, two horns, two oboes, solo violin, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
The brilliant and energetic opening aria ("Joyful time in the new covenant") is somewhat reminiscent of the First Brandenburg Concerto with its prominent horn parts. This triumphant alto da capo aria expresses the joy of Mary's purification. Bach opts for a strikingly rich orchestration: in addition to the strings, there are two oboes, two horns, and a solo violin with an extremely active part (there has been much speculation as to who the skilled violinist was - perhaps Pisendel?) The ritornello presents a first motif in ascending coloraturas, later taken up by the voice, then playfully contrasting "choruses" of instruments and virtuoso figuration by the solo violin. In stark contrast, the middle section focuses on "our resting place, our grave," the violin imitating funeral bells with repetitions on open strings.
The second movement is quite unusual in Bach's oeuvre. It contains the canticle of Simeon, "Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, as thou hast said," which reflects his situation and is sung by the bass on the eighth psalm tone of Gregorian chant, while a canon is played in unison by all the strings. After the first verse of the canticle, three sections of secco recitative are interrupted by the canonic music, and finally the other two verses of the canticle are treated as the first. The use of psalm tones was considered archaic even in Bach's day.
In the third aria, "Hurry, heart, full of joy to step before the throne of grace," for tenor, the concertante violin plays endless triplet runs to illustrate the hurry, the voice imitating the runs - the rhythmic stepping gait aptly expressing the "hurry full of joy. A short secco recitative leads into the traditional four-part Lutheran chorale, "Mit Fried und Freud". Bach also used this chorale in his early funeral cantata, Actus tragicus.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interview with Sato /
J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, 2 February 1725
Chor: Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin
Arie (Alto): Ich will auch mit gebrochnen Augen
Recitativ und Choral (Bass): O Wunder, daß ein Herz
Arie - Duett (tenor, Bass): Ein unbegreiflich Licht erfüllt den ganzen Kreis der Erden
Rezitativ (Alto): O unerschöpfter Schatz der Güte
Choral: Er ist das Heil und selig Licht
"With peace and joy I go from here"
Text & translation
Scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, horn to support the chorale tune sung by the soprano in the outer movements, flauto traverso, oboe, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Chorale cantata. The gospel for the feast day, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, includes Simeon's hymn Nunc dimittis, which Luther paraphrased in his hymn, creating an unusually close relationship between the hymn and the liturgical occasion. Bach had used individual stanzas of the hymn in his early funeral cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106, and in cantatas of his first Leipzig cycle.
The impressive opening chorus begins with an introduction in 12/8 time, like pastoral siciliano music in which the flute and oboe play with the strings, and is based on Luther's rendering of the Nunc Dimittis. The soprano sings the cantus firmus in long notes. In keeping with the text, the phrases "gentle and still" and "death has become my sleep" are treated softly and homophonically, modulating into distant keys.
The long and slow alto aria is accompanied by a flute and an oboe d'amore (without strings). This is rather dissonant and solitary music. Note the broken melody caused by the words "broken eyes" and the full stop on the word "die" - Bach was a great rhetorician!
In the bass recitative with chorale, the chorale melody appears unadorned except for the last line, "in death and also in dying," which is extended by two bars and emphasized by chromatic coloring and rich ornamentation. The recitative and chorale elements are linked by a string motif that runs throughout the movement. The duet between tenor and bass is lively and melodious, like light shining in the darkness. A recitative leads into the final four-part chorale setting.
Video: J.S Bach Foundation - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Ich habe genung, BWV 82, 2 February 1727
Aria: "Ich habe genung"
Recitative: "Ich habe genung"
Aria: "Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen" ("Fall asleep, you weary eyes")
Recitative: "Mein Gott! wenn kömmt das schöne: Nun!" ("My God, when will the lovely word come: 'Now!'")
Aria: "Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod" ("I look forward to my death")
"I have enough"
Text & translation
Scored for a bass soloist, oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Bach composed the solo bass cantata for the feast of Mariae Reinigung in Leipzig in 1727 and premiered it on February 2 of that year. A version for soprano, BWV 82a, probably premiered around 1731, with the obbligato oboe replaced by a flute. Some of the music also appears in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. It is revered as one of Bach's most recorded and performed sacred cantatas, and its opening aria and so-called "slumber aria" are hailed as some of his most inspired creations.
The libretto is based on the pericope of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, with Simeon's hymn Nunc dimittis (Luke 2:22-32). More than Bach's earlier works on the same theme, Ich habe genug emphasizes the longing to escape earthly misery and be united with Jesus. While the identity of the poet was previously unknown, recent research suggests that it was Christoph Birkmann, a student at the University of Leipzig in the 1720s.
Truly one of Bach's most exquisite cantatas for solo voice, it eschews choruses or chorales and consists solely of three arias and two recitatives for bass voice.
The first aria ("I have enough, I have taken the Savior, the hope of the righteous, in my eager arms") is profoundly beautiful, reflecting Simeon's acceptance of the end of his life with a mixture of melancholy and resignation. Beginning with an expressive melody of the obbligato oboe, which is seamlessly taken up by the voice at the words "I have enough," one can find a sense of serene satisfaction with life and its end in the elegiac tones of the aria's expression.
The following recitative begins with the same phrase as the aria, "I have enough," set to a new melody. The middle section emphasizes "Laßt uns mit diesem Manne ziehn!" (Let us go with this man!), an invitation to follow Jesus, presented through an arioso in which the continuo follows the singer.
The second aria ("Fall asleep, you weary eyes, close softly and pleasantly") serves as the emotional climax: it functions as a lullaby or slumber aria, both for the death of Simeon and for the sleeping Christ Child. It is intricately structured, consisting of a da capo aria in three sections, framed by a string ritornello that repeats the first section within the middle section. As Julian Mincham writes, "The frequent pauses, where everything temporarily comes to a standstill, are suggestive of that peaceful closing of life where there is no activity and disorder is a thing of the past". It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written.
The final aria is a joyful dance that anticipates death as the fulfillment of desire: "I look forward to my death". The joyful longing for the hereafter is expressed through agile coloraturas that characterize the entire movement. Though the opposite of life-affirming, this is music of serene contentment.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interview with with bass Thomas Bauer, conductor Lars Ulrik Mortensen, & oboist Martin Stadler /
J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Anniversary concert (15 years J.S. Bach Foundation with Nuria Rial & Manuel Walser) - Ich lasse du nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV 157 (Leipzig, 1727)
Arie (Duett Tenor & Bass): Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn!
Arie (Tenor): Ich halte meinen Jesum feste
Rezitativ (Tenor): Mein lieber Jesu du
Arie, Rezitativ und Arioso (Bass): Ja, ja, ich halte Jesum feste
Choral: Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht
"I am not letting you go, unless you bless me first!"
Text & translation
Scored for two vocal soloists, tenor and bass, a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, flauto traverso, oboe, oboe d'amore, two violin parts, violetta and basso continuo.
This cantata is a reworking of the first part of a funeral cantata to a libretto by Picander for Johann von Ponickau, privy councillor and chamberlain at the Saxon court. Although small in scale - it calls for only six instruments - the work is of great density. It begins with a beautiful duet ("I will not let you go, therefore bless me"), a canon for tenor and bass with flute, oboe and violin. The movement contains only one line: the biblical quotation from Genesis, which became the cantata's title. It has an eight-bar ritornello that opens, closes, and divides the movement, with a prominent imitative motif to the words "I will not leave you. The two solo voices sing the theme, introduced by the continuo, in a canon. The movement is scored for six voices, flute, oboe d'amore, and continuo.
The tenor aria ("I hold my Jesus tightly") has a beautiful oboe d'amore accompaniment. The "holding" of Jesus is illustrated with typical long notes. It is a difficult tenor aria with elaborate melismas. The aria, in a gentle triple meter, is based on two motifs, one with long pause notes illustrating faith, and coloraturas representing "with force. This vocal part is even more difficult because there is no orchestra to help or cover the voice.
The tenor recitative, "My dear Jesus, when I suffer oppression and torment, then you are my joy," is lushly accompanied by strings. It recalls some of the motivic material of the first movement.
The bass aria "Yes, yes, I hold Jesus tightly" has an integrated recitative and a lovely part for flute. In contrast to the earlier movements, the mood is one of joyful, even exuberant expectation. The scoring for flute, violin, and continuo is reminiscent of countless trio sonatas by George Frideric Handel, Georg Philipp Telemann, and others. The music opens with a ritornello. Structurally, the movement completes most of a da capo aria before a recitative episode interrupts the recapitulation of the A section. The music alternates between aria and recitative twice more before a final aria section concludes the movement. An intimate harmonization of the chorale "Meinem Jesus lass ich nicht" concludes the cantata.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Der Friede Sei mit Dir, BWV 158 (Weimar years 1713-1717)
Rezitativ (Bass): Der Friede sei mit dir
Arie (Bass und Choral Soprano): Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde
Rezitativ und Arioso (Bass): Nun, Herr, regiere meinen Sinn
Choral: Hier ist das rechte Osterlamm
"Peace be with you"
Text & translation
This cantata seems to be a mixture of fragmentary movements from two originally different cantatas: the most substantial parts, 2 and 3, are clearly for the purification of Mary, as they refer to the story of Simeon. The first and last movements, however, refer to Easter, so this cantata may also have been used on the third day of Easter. It is possible that these are parts of different cantatas that Bach or someone else later put together for an unknown occasion. Only four singers are needed for the final chorale, otherwise the score requires only a bass and a soprano. The cantata is ultra-short and the instrumentation sober. Central to all parts is the contrast between heavenly peace and earthly turmoil. The individual movements are all excellent, especially the bass aria ("World, farewell, I am tired of you"), which is woven around a chorale sung by the soprano and accompanied by a solo violin in the high register. The work concludes with the fifth part of Luther's hymn Christ lag in Todesbanden.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interview with bass Matthew Brook /
J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
