Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei (Behold and see, if there be any sorrow), BWV 46, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the tenth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 1 August 1723.

The cantata is part of Bach's first annual cycle of cantatas, which he began when he took up office as Thomaskantor in May 1723. The topic is based on the prescribed reading from the gospel of Luke, Jesus announcing the destruction of Jerusalem and cleansing of the Temple. The librettist is unknown. The cantata is structured in six movements: two choral movements frame a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias. The opening movement is based on a verse from the Book of Lamentations, a lament of the destructed Jerusalem, related to the announcement from the gospel. The text moves from reflecting God's wrath in the past to the situation of the contemporary Christian. The closing chorale, a stanza from Johann Matthäus Meyfart's hymn "O großer Gott von Macht", is a prayer culminating in the thought "do not repay us according to our sins".

The cantata is scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, a slide trumpet, two recorders, two oboes da caccia, strings and basso continuo.[2] This is an unusually rich instrumentation for an ordinary Sunday. Bach created in the opening chorus an unusual "uncompromising" fugue for up to nine parts. The bass aria with an obbligato trumpet, depicting God's wrath compared to a thunderstorm, has been regarded as "more frightening" than any contemporary operatic 'rage' arias. The closing chorale is not the usual simple four-part setting, but includes instrumental interludes reminiscent of motifs used before.

Bach used music of the first section of the opening chorus for Qui tollis peccata mundi of his Mass in B minor. He made considerable changes when he adapted the lamenting music to depict the Lamb of God carrying the sins of the world.

As with other cantatas Bach composed in his first years in Leipzig, we do not know the identity of the librettist. It is the third in a group of ten cantatas following the same structure of biblical text (in this case from the Old Testament) – recitative – aria – recitative – aria – chorale. The ten cantatas were dedicated to the 8th to 14th and 21st to 22nd Sunday after Trinity and the second Sunday after Easter.

The words for the first movement are taken from the Book of Lamentations (Lamentations 1:12), a lament about the historic destruction of Jerusalem. The text, suitable in connection with the announcement by Jesus, is among the prescribed readings for Good Friday and has been set to music often. The text for the inner movements 2 to 5 were written by the unknown poet, who dedicated a pair of recitative and aria to the memory of the historic event, another pair to the warning that the contemporary Christian is threatened in a similar way. The final chorale is the ninth stanza of "O großer Gott von Macht" by Johann Matthäus Meyfart.

The cantata is structured in six movements and scored for three vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir (SATB), a slide trumpet (Zugtrompete, Tr), mostly doubling the choir soprano, two recorders (Fl), two oboes da caccia (Oc), two violins (Vl), viola (Va) and basso continuo (Bc). This is an unusually rich instrumentation for an ordinary Sunday.[6] The title on the original parts reads: "10 post Trinit: / Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein etc. / a / 4 Voci / 1 Tromba / 2 Flauti / 2 Hautb: da Caccia / 2 Violini / Viola / con / Continuo / di Sign: / J.S.Bach".

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schauet_doch_und_sehet,_ ob_irgend_ein_Schmerz_sei,_BWV_46).

I created this arrangement of the closing Chorale: "O großer Gott von Treu" (O great God of faithfulness) for 2 Flutes & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).