Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost (Ah, dear
Christians, be comforted), BWV 114, is a church cantata
by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale
cantata in Leipzig for the 17th Sunday after Trinity
and first performed it on 1 October 1724. It is based
on the hymn by Johannes Gigas (1561).
Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig
for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. That year,
Bach composed a cycle of chorale cantatas, begun on the
first Sunday after Trinity of ...(+)
Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost (Ah, dear
Christians, be comforted), BWV 114, is a church cantata
by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale
cantata in Leipzig for the 17th Sunday after Trinity
and first performed it on 1 October 1724. It is based
on the hymn by Johannes Gigas (1561).
Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig
for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. That year,
Bach composed a cycle of chorale cantatas, begun on the
first Sunday after Trinity of 1724. The prescribed
readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the
Ephesians, the admonition to keep the unity of the
Spirit (Ephesians 4:1–6), and from the Gospel of
Luke, healing a man with dropsy on the Sabbath (Luke
14:1–11). The cantata is based on a song of penitence
in six stanzas by Johannes Gigas (1561), sung to the
melody of "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält". The
hymn is only distantly related to the readings,
concentrating on the thought that the Christians sin
and deserve punishment, but may be raised to joy in a
"seliger Tod" (blessed death). An unknown poet kept the
first, third and sixth stanza as movements 1, 4 and 7
of the cantata. He derived movements 2 and 3, aria and
recitative, from stanza 2, movement 5, another aria,
from stanza 4, and the last recitative from stanza 5.
In movement 3, he deviated from the song text,
expanding in connection to the Gospel that sin in
general is comparable to the dropsy, "diese
Sündenwassersucht ist zum Verderben da und wird dir
tödlich sein" (this sinful dropsy leads to destruction
and will be fatal to you), and alluding to Adam's fall,
caused by self-exaltation in the forbidden quest to be
like God, "Der Hochmut aß vordem von der verbotnen
Frucht, Gott gleich zu werden" (Pride first ate the
forbidden fruit, to be like God).
Bach first performed the cantata on 1 October 1724,
only two days after the first performance of his
chorale cantata Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV
130, on the feast of Michael, the archangel, 29
September 1724.
In the opening chorale fantasia, Bach expresses two
thoughts of the text, comfort and fear, by contrasting
themes that appear simultaneously in the instruments:
an assertive theme is derived from the melody and
played by the two oboes and first violins, an "anxious"
one in the second violins and the continuo. The soprano
sings the melody as a cantus firmus, doubled by the
horn, while the lower voices are set partly in
expressive imitation, partly in homophony. They are
treated differently to reflect the meaning of the
text.
The first aria for alto with a virtuoso flute contrasts
again 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 "Allein zu Jesu Vaterhänden
will ich mich in der Schwachheit wenden" (Only to
Jesus's paternal hands do I wish to turn in weakness),
however, the question returns in the da capo form. The
first recitative begins secco, but expresses the
contrasting words "erhebst" (exalt) and "erniedrigt"
(humbled) from the Gospel as an arioso. The chorale
stanza is set for the soprano, accompanied only by the
continuo. In its "starkness of the unembellished
chorale" it is the centerpiece of the cantata. The alto
aria is the only movement of the cantata in a major
key. A shift to minor on the words "Es muß ja so
einmal gestorben sein" (One day, indeed, one must die)
is even more striking. The cantata ends with a
four-part setting of the chorale melody.
Although originally scored for four vocal soloists
(soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir,
horn to double the soprano, flauto traverso, two oboes,
two violins, viola, and basso continuo, I created this
arrangement for Oboe Duet & Strings (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
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