Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen
BWV 49
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
Thomaskirche, Leipzig
Occasion20th Sunday after Trinity
Cantata textChristoph Birkmann
ChoraleWie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Performed3 November 1726 (1726-11-03): Leipzig
Movements6
Vocalsoprano and bass soloists
Instrumental
  • oboe d'amore
  • 2 violins
  • viola
  • violoncello piccolo
  • organ
  • continuo

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen (I go forth and seek with longing),[1] BWV 49, in Leipzig for the twentieth Sunday after Trinity Sunday and first performed it on 3 November 1726. It is a solo cantata, a dialogue of soprano and bass.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata in his fourth year in Leipzig for the 20th Sunday after Trinity. It is counted as part of his third cantata cycle. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Ephesians, "walk circumspectly ... filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:15–21), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the great banquet (Matthew 22:1–14). The German term used in Luther's Bible translation is Hochzeitsmahl (wedding meal).[2] The cantata is termed a Dialogus, being a dialogue between the Soul and Jesus, her bridegroom.[3] The source for the dialogue is, here as in many works of the 17th century, the Song of Songs.[4] Poet Christoph Birkmann[5] derived from the wedding feast of the Gospel the Soul as the bride whom Jesus invited to their wedding, while the other characters of the story are not mentioned in the cantata.[4] The poet alludes to the Bible several times, comparing the bride to a dove as in Song of Songs 5:2 and Song of Songs 6:9, referring to the Lord's feast (Isaiah 25:6), to the bond between the Lord and Israel (Hosea 2:21), to faithfulness until death (Revelation 3:20), and in the final movement to "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." (Jeremiah 31:3). Instead of a closing chorale, Bach combines this idea, sung by the bass, with the seventh stanza of Philipp Nicolai's mystical wedding song "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern", given to the soprano.[2]

Bach first performed the cantata on 3 November 1726.[2]

Scoring and structure

Bach structured the cantata six movements and scored it for soprano and bass soloists, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, violoncello piccolo, organ and basso continuo.[2] Klaus Hofmann summarizes: "Bach has clothed his music in the 'wedding garments' of exquisite scoring".[4]

  1. Sinfonia
  2. Aria (bass): Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen
  3. Recitative (soprano, bass): Mein Mahl ist zubereit'
  4. Aria (soprano): Ich bin herrlich, ich bin schön
  5. Recitative (soprano, bass): Mein Glaube hat mich selbst so angezogen
  6. Aria (bass) + Chorale (soprano): Dich hab ich je und je geliebet – Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh

Music

The cantata is opened by a sinfonia for concertante organ and orchestra,[3] probably the final movement of a lost concerto composed in Köthen, the model for the Concerto II in E major, BWV 1053, for harpsichord. Two weeks before, Bach had used the two other movements of that concerto in his cantata Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169.[2] The bass as the vox Christi sings the words of Jesus. In the soprano aria "Ich bin herrlich, ich bin schön" (I am glorious, I am beautiful) the bride reflects her beauty as dressed in "seines Heils Gerechtigkeit" (The justice of His salvation),[1] accompanied by oboe d'amore and violoncello piccolo.[4] The cantata ends not with the usual four-part chorale, but with a love duet of the Soul (soprano) and Jesus (bass). It incorporates a chorale, stanza 7 of Nicolai's hymn, ending with the line "Deiner wart ich mit Verlangen" (I wait for Thee with longing),[1] while the bass responds: "I have always loved you, and so I draw you to me. I'm coming soon. I stand before the door: open up, my abode!"[1] John Eliot Gardiner describes the mood of the music, accompanied by the obbligato organ, as "religious-erotic".[6] Hofmann notes that the figuration of the organ expresses in sound what the cantus firmus words: "Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh!" (How sincerely happy I am!)[1][4] Musicologist Julian Mincham suggests that this cantata "exudes a greater degree of personal intensity" than the previous two for this day, BWV 162 and 180.[7]

Recordings

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 49 – Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 487–490. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
  3. 1 2 Wolff, Christoph (2001). Bach's Third Yearly Cycle of Cantatas (1725–1727) – I (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 7. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Hofmann, Klaus (2011). "Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen / I go and seek you longingly, BWV 49" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 8. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Blanken, Christine. "A Cantata-Text Cycle of 1728 from Nuremberg: A preliminary report on a discovery relating to J. S. Bach's so-called "Third Annual Cycle"" (PDF). Bach Network UK. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Gardiner, John Eliot (2006). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 38, 49, 98, 109, 162, 180 & 188 (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 30 BWV 49 Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen / I go, desirously, in search of you". jsbachcantatas.com.

Sources

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