Composed for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, which
fell on September 3, 1724, Bach's Cantata No. 33
"Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" (Alone in You, Lord
Jesus Christ) (BWV 33) sets a three-verse chorale by
Konrad Hubert from 1540 with the first and last verse
forming the opening and closing chorales and the
central verse elaborated into a pair of recitatives and
arias by an unknown poet. The cantata is scored for
bass, alto, and tenor soloists, chorus, a pair of
oboes, strings, and basso c...(+)
Composed for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, which
fell on September 3, 1724, Bach's Cantata No. 33
"Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" (Alone in You, Lord
Jesus Christ) (BWV 33) sets a three-verse chorale by
Konrad Hubert from 1540 with the first and last verse
forming the opening and closing chorales and the
central verse elaborated into a pair of recitatives and
arias by an unknown poet. The cantata is scored for
bass, alto, and tenor soloists, chorus, a pair of
oboes, strings, and basso continuo. The cantata is in
darkly glittering A minor, with its first movement in
the tonic, its second movement in the dominant minor of
E minor, its third in the relative major of C major but
with a pronounced inclination to turn toward A minor,
its fourth back in the tonic of A minor, its fifth in E
minor, and its sixth is again in A minor, but with a
picardy third in the final bar. Thus the work's
harmonic structure forms an arch around the third
movement: A minor -- E minor -- C major -- A minor -- E
minor -- A minor. The first movement is a typical
opening movement for a Bach cantata with the full
orchestra having the main musical argument and the
chorale melody interjected phrase by phrase by the
choral sopranos with the lower choral voices
elaborating on the chorale hymn. The second movement is
secco reiterative for bass soloist and continuo
blossoming into a brief Arioso in its final bars. The
third and longest movement is an extended da capo aria
for alto soloist, with con sordino first violins and
pizzicato lower strings and continuo. The fourth
movement is a second secco recitative for tenor and
continuo. The fifth movement is a duetto for tenor and
bass soloists with obbligato oboes. "Allein zu dir,
Herr Jesu Christ" closes with a powerful harmonization
of the last verse of Hubert's chorale for the entire
chorus and orchestra.
Although originally written for Chorus (SATB) and
Orchestra, I created this unusual arrangement of the
alto aria, movement 3, "Wie furchtsam wankten meine
Schritte" (How fearful were my shaky steps), for Bb
Clarinet & Concert (Pedal) Harp to play on my
perception of the French Romantic "laissez-faire" that
this piece speaks to me. As Bach did not live in this
era, this is my interpretation only and is not based in
actuality.
