Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden (Stay with us,
for evening falls), BWV 6,[a] is a cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. He composed the church cantata in
Leipzig for Easter Monday and first performed it on 2
April 1725.
The work opens with a large-scale chorus of a freely
polyphonic tone poem, reminiscent of a slow sarabande
or of the closing of the St John Passion. The movement
is unusual among Bach's works in that despite being a
large choral movement, it is neither a chorale nor...(+)
Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden (Stay with us,
for evening falls), BWV 6,[a] is a cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. He composed the church cantata in
Leipzig for Easter Monday and first performed it on 2
April 1725.
The work opens with a large-scale chorus of a freely
polyphonic tone poem, reminiscent of a slow sarabande
or of the closing of the St John Passion. The movement
is unusual among Bach's works in that despite being a
large choral movement, it is neither a chorale nor a
fantasia. The musicologist Julian Mincham suggests that
this may indicate a sense of creative burnout on Bach's
part, given his demanding compositional schedule. The
vocal lines in this movement descend on "denn es will
Abend werden" (for evening is nigh) "as if the gloom of
night were weighing upon them". The middle section is a
fugal texture in C minor and common time, dominated by
imitative counterpoint.
The second movement, an alto aria in da capo form, is
in E-flat major, moving to B-flat and E-flat minor in
the middle section. The vocal line is accompanied by an
oboe da caccia obbligato.
The third movement is a setting of a chorale in B-flat
major. The piccolo cello part was likely a later
addition; the part is high and quite technically
difficult. This movement was later adapted as one of
the Schübler Chorales, BWV 649.
The final three movements are all in G minor: a
recitative for bass, an aria for tenor, and a closing
chorale. The recitative employs a "threatening
chromatic bass line" to remind listeners of "the
gravity of the situation". The aria is characterized by
a persistent walking rhythm, somewhat mitigated by the
flowing triplets in the violin line. Mincham suggests
that the closing chorale is "quarried very little for
musical building blocks", ending the work on a sombre
tone.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleib_bei_uns,_denn_es_w
ill_Abend_werden,_...).
I created this arrangement of the opening Chorus:
"Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, und der Tag
hat sich geneiget" (Stay with us, for evening falls,
and the day has declined) for Wind Ensemble (Flute,
Oboe, English Horn, Bb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, French
Horn & Bassoon) and Concert (Pedal) Harp.
