Readings:
1 Peter 3:8–15 "Be patient in affliction"
Luke 5:1–11, "The miraculous catch of fishes"
Cantata Studies:
Bach Cantatas Website | Simon Crouch | Emmanuel Music | Julian Mincham | Wikipedia | Eduard van Hengel (in Dutch) | Bach Companion (Oxford U.P.) | Bach: The Learned Musician (Wolff) | Music in the Castle of Heaven (Gardiner)
Cantatas:
- Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV 93, 9 July 1724
Coro: Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten
Recitativo (+ chorale, bass): Was helfen uns die schweren Sorgen?
Aria (tenor): Man halte nur ein wenig stille
Aria Duetto (soprano, alto): Er kennt die rechten Freudenstunden
Recitativo (+ chorale, tenor): Denk nicht in deiner Drangsalhitze
Aria (soprano): Ich will auf den Herren schaun
Chorale: Sing, bet und geh auf Gottes Wegen
"If you but permit God to prevail"
Text & translation
Scored for four soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) a four-part choir, two oboes, two violins, viola, viola da gamba and basso continuo.
A symmetrically composed chorale cantata, as the chorale melody "Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten" by Georg Neumark (which Bach often used and must have liked very much) is at the beginning, end and in the central duet, and both halves also contain a recitative and an aria. The chorale is connected in general to the prescribed readings. The treatment of the chorale in this cantata is atypically complex, with chorale melody and text skillfully - and inventively - interwoven throughout the cantata. With no da-capo arias, the work has the characteristics of a chorale partita (despite the sections of freely versified text), and its concisely structured movements make for a particularly dense and highly persuasive composition.
The opening chorale fantasia is like a small concerto, composed with unusual care even for Bach. In both recitatives, individual passages of the chorale are interspersed with recitative commentary - an interesting technique.
The moving tenor aria is a classic slow movement. Note the short pauses every two bars - after all, the text says, "Only hold yourself still a little".
In the central duet, again based on the chorale, the soprano, alto, and continuo form a sort of independent trio, while the chorale melody is heard in the unison strings. Bach later transformed this movement into an organ chorale (BWV 642).
The final soprano aria (sung by a boy soprano in Bach's time) is - as Bach often did after a difficult theological argument - a childlike affirmation of faith. The concluding chorale harmonization is deliberately simple.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden, BWV 88, 21 July 1726
Part I
"Basso solo": Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden
Recitativo (tenor): Wie leichtlich könnte doch der Höchste uns entbehren
Aria (tenor): Nein, Gott ist allezeit geflissen
Part II
Arioso (tenor, bass): Jesus sprach zu Simon: Fürchte dich nicht
Aria Duetto (soprano, alto): Beruft Gott selbst, so muss der Segen
Recitativo (soprano): Was kann dich denn in deinem Wandel schrecken
Chorale: Sing, bet und geh auf Gottes Wegen
"Behold, I will send out many fishers"
Text & translation
Scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir SATB only in the chorale, two horns, two oboes d'amore, taille, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
The two parts of this cantata are like exposition and resolution. The cantata begins with the bass as the voice of God, announcing the sending out of many fishermen, based on the prescribed Gospel reading of the great catch of fish by Peter. Again, the music paints a seascape, with an undulating barcarolle. Then suddenly, at the words "And afterwards I will send out many hunters," the music changes to a hunting scene, and horns join the orchestra. Since this is not a real aria, Bach called it a "basso solo," but it is easily the musical highlight of the entire cantata.
The next tenor recitative ends with the question of whether God will forsake us, which is immediately answered with "Nein, nein" in the tenor aria. This then changes to "Yes, yes" as the aria sings of the right path, and the clear, even structure of this piece may well symbolize that path.
The second half of the cantata begins with an arioso for bass as Vox Christi: "Do not be afraid, for from now on you will catch people. This is followed by a buoyant, confident duet for soprano and alto on the theme that if God is calling us, "then blessing must rest in abundance on all our deeds.
After a brief exhortation in the soprano recitative to be patient in tribulation, the cantata closes with a straightforward setting of Neumark's chorale, "Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)