Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch (Truly, truly I say
to you), BWV 86, is a church cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. He composed the cantata in Leipzig in
his first annual cycle for the fifth Sunday after
Easter, called Rogate.
The theme of the cantata is a quotation from the
gospel, beginning the cantata with the promise of Jesus
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall
ask the Father in my name, he will give you". An
unknown poet used as movement 3 the 16th stanza of
Geor...(+)
Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch (Truly, truly I say
to you), BWV 86, is a church cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. He composed the cantata in Leipzig in
his first annual cycle for the fifth Sunday after
Easter, called Rogate.
The theme of the cantata is a quotation from the
gospel, beginning the cantata with the promise of Jesus
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall
ask the Father in my name, he will give you". An
unknown poet used as movement 3 the 16th stanza of
Georg Grünwald's hymn "Kommt her zu mir, spricht
Gottes Sohn" (1530), and as the closing chorale the
eleventh stanza of "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her" by
Paul Speratus (1524). The poet hints at the question
how the promise can be understood looking the reality
of life. In movement 2 he uses the image of a rose with
thorns to illustrate two conflicting aspects. In
movements 3 and 4 he confirms the promise which has to
be seen in the perspective of time. Movement 5 refers
to the waiting for a promise being kept, and the
closing chorale assures that God knows the right time.
The structure of the six movements – a gospel
quotation in the beginning, chorales as movements 3 and
6, the sequence of recitative and arias – is similar
to Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166, first performed one week
earlier.
The gospel quotation is given to the bass as the vox
Christi, the voice of Jesus. The instruments, strings
probably doubled by oboe d'amore, introduce vocal
motifs which the voice picks up. The bass sings the
text three times, while the instruments continue
playing the same motifs. Julian Mincham observes: "The
richness of the text, the unobtrusive nature of the
melodic ideas and the gently flowing rhythms combine to
create an appropriate atmosphere of dignified
restraint".
In movement 2, the alto is accompanied by the strings
and a violin obbligato in virtuoso figuration, which
may illustrate the heavenly light promised as the final
fulfillment. In the chorale of movement 3, the
unadorned cantus firmus in the soprano is embedded in a
trio of the two oboes d'amore and the continuo. In
movement 5, the last aria, a motif of five notes is
first introduced by the violin and then picked up by
the tenor on the words "Gott hilft gewiß" (God's help
is sure). The motif is repeated in the violin again and
again. The closing chorale is set for four parts.
The cantata in six movements is scored for three vocal
soloists (alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir only
for the closing chorale, two oboes d'amore, two
violins, viola and basso continuo. The cantus firmus of
movement 3 is sung by a soprano.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahrlich,_wahrlich,_ich_
sage_euch,_BWV_86).
I created this arrangement of the Tenor Aria "Gott
hilft gewiß" (God helps indeed) for Solo Viola &
Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION