Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen ("God goes up with
jubilation" or "God has gone up with a shout"), BWV
43,[a] is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He
composed it in Leipzig for the Feast of the Ascension
and first performed it on 30 May 1726.
The text of the cantata is unusual as it consists
mostly of a poem in six stanzas, which forms movements
5 to 10 of the work in 11 movements. The structure is
similar to that of cantatas by Bach's cousin Johann
Ludwig Bach, court conductor i...(+)
Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen ("God goes up with
jubilation" or "God has gone up with a shout"), BWV
43,[a] is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He
composed it in Leipzig for the Feast of the Ascension
and first performed it on 30 May 1726.
The text of the cantata is unusual as it consists
mostly of a poem in six stanzas, which forms movements
5 to 10 of the work in 11 movements. The structure is
similar to that of cantatas by Bach's cousin Johann
Ludwig Bach, court conductor in Meiningen, that Bach
performed during 1726: Old Testament quotation,
recitative, aria, New Testament quotation, poem,
chorale. The first quotation is taken from Psalm 47
(Psalms 47:5–7) and is traditionally understood as a
reference to the Ascension. The other quotation in
movement 4 is verse 19 from the gospel. An unknown poet
paraphrased in recitative and aria an idea from Psalm
68 (Psalms 68:18) as well as its quotation in the
Epistle to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4:8), "when he
ascended up on high, he led captivity captive". In
movement 7 he used the motif of Christ in the
winepress.
The cantata is closed by the first and thirteenth
stanza of Johann Rist's hymn "Du Lebensfürst, Herr
Jesu Christ" (1641). Bach would later use stanza four
of the chorale for his Ascension Oratorio. The cantata
consists of two parts, to be performed before and after
the sermon. Bach first performed it on 30 May 1726.
The opening chorus with the full orchestra is the
"centre of gravity" of the cantata. It opens with an
introduction marked "adagio", played by the strings
doubled by the oboes. Then a fugue begins, two
instrumental entries are followed by choral entries, a
climax is reached in an entry of the first trumpet. A
second fugue includes remote and minor keys. The second
part of the text, "lobsinget Gott, lobsinget unserm
Könige" (sing praises to God, sing praises unto our
King) is first sung in homophony, but then presented in
a third fugue on the theme of the first, followed by a
homophonic coda. A secco recitative leads to the first
aria, accompanied by the violins in unison. The
complete text is sung three times in different
sections. The New Testament quotation is sung not by
the bass as the vox Christi but, likely because Jesus
is not speaking himself, instead the soprano narrates
"So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was
received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of
God" as a secco recitative. Movement 5 concludes Part I
and is based on the first stanza of the poem. The
soprano is accompanied by the strings, doubled by the
oboes. In the middle section, the words "Er schließt
der Erde Lauf" (He finishes His course on earth,
literally: "He finishes the course of the earth") are
expressed by an upward melisma and one downward on the
repeat of the words.
Part II handles the other five stanzas of the poem,
alternating recitative and aria. The first recitative
is accompanied by the strings, the others are secco.
The bass aria is highlighted by an obbligato trumpet
part, but it is so difficult that Bach gave it to a
violin in a later performance. The words "voll
Schmerzen, Qual und Pein" (full of sorrow, torment and
pain) are illustrated by a slower tempo and harmonic
tension. The following recitative refers in the end to
the view towards heaven, expressed by an upward motion.
The last aria, accompanied by the oboes, enjoys the
victory over the enemies, in a vision of peace rather
than a description of a battle, but stresses the words
"aus Jammer, Not und Schmach" (out of suffering,
distress and ignominy) by "harmonic darkening". The
closing chorale is a four-part setting of the melody of
Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist, composed by Johann
Schop in 1641. According to Klaus Hofmann, the setting
was composed not by Bach himself, but by Christoph
Peter (1626–89), cantor in Guben, as printed in the
Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (New Leipzig hymnal) of
1682.
The cantata is festively scored for four vocal soloists
(soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir,
three trumpets, timpani (tamburi in the autograph), two
oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gott_f%C3%A4hret_auf_mit
_Jauchzen,_BWV_43).
I created this arrangement of the first Aria: "Ja
tausend mal tausend begleiten den Wagen" (Indeed
thousand upon thousands accompany the chariots) for
French Horn & Concert (Pedal) Harp.
PARTITION