Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (They will put you
under banishment), BWV 44, is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for
Exaudi, the Sunday after Ascension, and first performed
it on 21 May 1724. It is the last original cantata
composition of his first annual cycle, followed by
reworkings of older music until the beginning of the
second annual cycle of chorale cantatas on the first
Sunday after Trinity.
As with many works of Georg Philipp Telemann, but r...(+)
Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (They will put you
under banishment), BWV 44, is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for
Exaudi, the Sunday after Ascension, and first performed
it on 21 May 1724. It is the last original cantata
composition of his first annual cycle, followed by
reworkings of older music until the beginning of the
second annual cycle of chorale cantatas on the first
Sunday after Trinity.
As with many works of Georg Philipp Telemann, but rare
in Bach's cantatas, the Bible quotation is split in two
movements, a duet and a chorus which follows
immediately in a different time and faster tempo. The
duet is an expressive lamento, introduced by the two
oboes in imitation on themes which the voices pick up.
The chorus has been described as "tumultuous and
excited" and likened to the rendering of the excited
crowd (turba) in Bach's St John Passion and St Matthew
Passion. It follows the text in mostly homophonic
sections with independent instruments. The beginning,
"Es kömmt aber die Zeit" (But the time will come), is
rendered in block chords (Akkordblöcke) as "repeated
rhetorical calls". In the following "daß, wer euch
tötet" (when whoever kills you), the word "töten" is
"twice emphasized by a sudden, mysterious piano and
wan, chromatically tinged harmonies", according to
Klaus Hofmann, or "menacing chromatic texture of
sustained notes underpinned by unexpected harmonies",
according to Julian Mincham. Finally "wird meinen, er
tue Gott einen Dienst daran" (will think that he does
God a service by it) is interpreted by free imitation.
After this sequential presentation of the three ideas
of the text, they are repeated in variation and
combination. Mincham summarises the "uncompromising"
tone of the statement "the time will come when your
murderer will believe that he has done a service to
God".
Movement 3 refers to the opening in tranquil 3/4 time
with an obbligato oboe. The words "Marter, Bann und
schwere Pein" (martyrdom, exile, and bitter pain) are
coloured in expressive chromatic, although the text
speaks of overcoming them. Hofmann describes "sigh-like
suspension and emotionally charged harmonic darkening".
The commenting chorale, on the almost unadorned melody
of "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht", is sung by
the tenor on an ostinato in the continuo derived from
the first line of the chorale. Hofmann observes in the
continuo ostinato that "at the place where the song
text has the word "Herzeleid" (heart ache), it is
expanded by means of chromatic notes in between – a
figurative expression of sorrow, of the lamentation
that characterizes the whole movement". Mincham notes
that this central chorale "seems almost to pre-empt the
atonal harmonies of the twentieth century". The
following short secco recitative marks a turning point,
resulting in an aria of consolation in dance-like
movement, accompanied by the string doubled by the
oboes. In the middle section, storms and "winds of
trouble" give way to "the sun of joy soon smiled" (die
Freudensonne bald gelacht), expressed in vivid
coloraturas. The cantata is closed by a four-part
chorale setting on the melody of "O Welt, ich muß dich
lassen", which resembles the setting of the same melody
in movement 10 of the St Matthew Passion, "Ich bins,
ich sollte büßen".
The cantata in seven movements is scored for four vocal
soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part
choir, two oboes, two violins, viola and basso
continuo.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sie_werden_euch_in_den_B
ann_tun,_BWV_44).
I created this arrangement of the last Aria: "Es ist
und bleibt der Christen Trost" (It is and remains the
comfort of Christians) for Wind Quintet (Flute, Oboe,
Bb Clarinet, French Horn & Bassoon).
PARTITION