The seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. Both readings for this day emphasize humility and modesty: Paul's exhortation to the Ephesians for generosity and selflessness, and Luke's parable of the man invited to the rich man's dinner, which concludes with the words "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted". This parable also contains the dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees about whether one may do good works on the Sabbath or whether one should abstain from all activity.
There are three cantatas for this Sunday.
Readings:
Ephesians 4:1–6, "Admonition to keep the unity of the Spirit"
Luke 14:1–11, "Healing a man with dropsy on the Sabbath"
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)
There are three cantatas for this Sunday.
Readings:
Ephesians 4:1–6, "Admonition to keep the unity of the Spirit"
Luke 14:1–11, "Healing a man with dropsy on the Sabbath"
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)
[Christ Healing, by Rembrandt, 1649]
Cantatas:
- Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, BWV 148, 19 September 1723 or 23 September 1725
Chorus: Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens
Aria (tenor, violin): Ich eile, die Lehren des Lebens zu hören
Recitativo (alto, strings): So wie der Hirsch nach frischem Wasser schreit
Aria (alto, oboes): Mund und Herze steht dir offen
Recitativo (tenor): Bleib auch, mein Gott, in mir
Chorale: Amen zu aller Stund
("Bring to the Lord honor of His name")
Text & translation
Scored for alto and tenor soloists, a four-part choir, trumpet, three oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
One of most sunny cantatas Bach wrote, scored with festive trumpets, an unusually generous instrumental line-up for an ordinary Sunday: trumpet and three oboes, in addition to strings and continuo. The text does not directly refer to the readings for this Sunday (healing a man with dropsy), but emphasizes that one should honor God on Sabbath. In other words, the cantata elaborates on the dispute with Jewish scribes as to whether one may perform good works on the Sabbath from the same pericope, and culminates in a hymn to Sunday observance.
We do not know when this cantata was written, because we only possess a version of the score that was copied after Bach's death. The estate of Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel includes it in Bach's first cantata cycle, but other arguments speak for 1725. The text seems inspired by a poem that Bach's later librettist Picander published in 1725, but which may have circulated in Bach's environment earlier. The words for the opening chorus are from Psalm 29 (Psalms 29:2).
The opening chorus - a work of tremendous vigor - begins with an instrumental sinfonia, presenting the themes, followed by the choir singing two fugues. The dense texture gives the impression of a large crowd singing these ringing words. In the first aria, for tenor, the florid solo violin illustrates both the joy in God and the “running” (Eilen) mentioned in the text in a happy 6/8 rhythm.
The recitative for alto is accompanied by long notes in the strings, as if to give extra warmth to the desire for God which is expressed here. In the next aria, also for alto, the mystical unity of the soul with God is given musical form in the unusual scoring for two oboe d'amore and oboe da caccia. When the alto voice starts singing, the continuo is momentarily silent, to express the letting behind of worldly concerns.
The final chorale is a warm harmonization - Bach provided a melody here, but no text has come down to us, so different performers have used different texts to make up for this omission. The New Bach Edition prefers "Amen, zu aller Stund", the sixth verse of Auf meinen lieben Gott, a hymn by Sigismund Weingärtner (1607).
Video: Academy Baroque Soloists (Opening Chorus)
Audio: Harnoncourt - Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost, BWV 114, 1 October 1724
Coro: Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost
Aria (tenor): Wo wird diesem Jammertale
Recitativo (bass): O Sünder, trage mit Geduld
Chorale (soprano): Kein Frucht das Weizenkörnlein bringt
Aria (alto): Du machst, o Tod, mir nun nicht ferner bange
Recitativo (tenor): Indes bedenke deine Seele
Chorale: Wir wachen oder schlafen ein
("Ah, dear Christians, be comforted")
Text & translation
Scored for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, horn (to double the soprano), flauto traverso, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Chorale cantata based on a six-verse penitential hymn by Johannes Gigas (1561), sung to the melody of "Where God the Lord does not hold with us" by Justas Jonas. The text has no close connection to the readings for this Sunday, but expresses a philosophy often found in Bach's cantatas: that believers should endure tribulation with patience (after all, they deserve it, being sinners) and look for comfort in the world to come. An unknown poet retained the first, third, and last verses verbatim as movements 1, 4, and 7 of the cantata. He developed movements 2 and 3, aria and recitative, from the second verse, movement 5, another aria, from the fourth verse, and the final recitative from the fifth verse. In the third movement, he expanded the text and made a connection to the Gospel, comparing sin to the disease dropsy and presenting it as also in need of healing: "This dropsy of sin is there for destruction and will be fatal to you". He alluded to Adam's fall from pride in wanting to be like God: "Pride once ate of the forbidden fruit of becoming like God." Penitent submission to the will of the Supreme and loving encouragement in the face of human finitude prove to be the central themes of this masterpiece of composition.
The opening chorale is a glorious piece of music, a rallying cry to the faithful. It begins with an orchestral introduction, after which the sopranos sing the chorale melody as a cantus firmus, doubled by the horn, with the three lower voices used more actively (the doubling of the sopranos by the horn also has a practical use: the sopranos available to Bach in the church were boy sopranos from the Thomas School, with weak and relatively untrained voices). The text of the opening chorus is an admission of guilt and a call to accept suffering as punishment for sin. Bach expresses two thoughts of the text, consolation and fear, through contrasting themes that appear simultaneously in the instruments: an assertive theme played by the two oboes and first violins, and an anxious one in the second violins and continuo. The choral lines are separated by instrumental ritornellos.
This is followed by a long aria for tenor, accompanied by a hyperactive flute obbligato, which expresses both the anxious question "Wo wird in diesem Jammertale vor meinen Geist die Zuflucht sein?" (Where can the refuge of my spirit be found in this valley of woe?) and the trusting answer "Allein zu Jesu Vaterhänden will ich mich in der Schwachheit wenden" (Only to Jesus's paternal hands do I wish to turn in weakness).
The secco recitative for bass does not paraphrase a choral verse, but rather the Gospel reading of the day from Luke, the healing of a man suffering from "dropsy," and a plea for humility. The bass reminds the sinner of the need to bear his burden and prepare his soul if salvation is to be finally attained. The recitative contains an arioso on the Gospel words "exalted" and "humbled.
In the rather unadorned central chorale, the soprano soloist (again doubled by horns, oboes, and violins) intones one of the verses of the hymn. The message is as stark as the music: fruit will not come from seed that has not germinated in the earth; similarly, our salvation will not come until our bodies are returned to dust.
The following alto aria is accompanied by a solo oboe, strings, and continuo. As a simple earthly believer, the contralto steps forward in uncomplicated harmonies, unwavering and self-confident. The contralto speaks of the removal of the fear of death as part of the process by which we are transformed into a state of purity and redemption. This simple da capo aria has a beautiful orchestral accompaniment. It is the only part of the cantata that is in a major key, which makes the change to minor for the words "Es muß ja so einmal gestorben sein" all the more striking.
The tenor's recitative, accompanied only by continuo ('secco'), has the character of an exhortation: think only of your soul and give your body back to God (this refers to Ephesians 4:4). The cantata concludes with a four-part setting of the chorale melody: death is inevitable, but Christians need not fear it.
Video: J.S. Bach-Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget werden, BWV 47, 13 October 1726
Coro: Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget werden
Aria (soprano): Wer ein wahrer Christ will heißen
Recitativo (bass): Der Mensch ist Kot, Stank, Asch und Erde
Aria (bass): Jesu, beuge doch mein Herze
Chorale: Der zeitlichen Ehrn will ich gern entbehrn
("Who exalts himself, will be humbled")
Text & translation
Scored two vocal soloists (soprano and bass), a four-part choir, two oboes, two violins, viola, organ obbligato and basso continuo.
Bach wrote the cantata in his fourth year in Leipzig for the 17th Sunday after Trinity. It is considered part of his third annual cycle of cantatas. The text of this cantata is by the court poet Johann Friedrich Helbig (1680-1722), who published an annual cycle of cantata texts in 1720 (Telemann set several of his texts, but Bach used only this one). The poet takes the last line of the Gospel as his starting point in the first movement, then focuses on the warning against pride, leading to a final prayer for humility.
The opening movement is one of Bach's most impressive fugal choruses, a reworking of material from the well-known Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV 546 for organ. The ascending motif played by the oboes illustrates the haughty self-exaltation in the first half of the Gospel text ("Whoever exalts himself shall be abased"); a counter-subject moving in the opposite direction is intended to demonstrate humility ("Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted").
This complex choral movement, which also dominates the entire cantata in its length, is followed by a simpler soprano aria, again depicting both humility and pride, the latter associated with the devil - there are some harsh, broken chords here that aptly illustrate arrogance. In the bass aria, oboe and violin join the bass voice in a prayer for humility.
The final chorale is for four voices and again expresses the utmost humility.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)