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Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2

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Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein (Oh God, look down from heaven), BWV 2, is a church cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the second Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 18 June 1724. The cantata is based on Martin Luther's chorale Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, published in 1524 in the first Lutheran hymnal.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata for the Second Sunday after Trinity in Leipzig as the second cantata of his second annual cycle of chorale cantatas and first performed it on 18 June 1724.[1] The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of John, 1 John 3:13–18, "Whoever doesn't love, remains in Death", and from the Gospel of Luke, Luke 14:16–24, the parable of the great banquet. The cantata is based on the chorale Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, published by Martin Luther in 1524[2], which paraphrases Psalm 12. The words are used unchanged in movements 1 and 6. An unknown poet transcribed the ideas of verses 2 to 5 to recitatives and arias.

Scoring and structure

The work is scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, four trombones, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo, The trombones play colla parte with the choir.

  1. Coro: Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
  2. Recitativo (teor, bass): Sie lehren eitel falsche List
  3. Aria (alto, violin solo): Tilg, o Gott, die Lehren
  4. Recitativo (bass, strings): Die Armen sind verstört
  5. Aria (tenor): Durchs Feuer wird das Silber rein
  6. Chorale: Das wollst du, Gott, bewahren rein

Music

In the first and last movement on the original words of the hymn the style of the music is "archaic", the instruments doubling the voices. In the first movement the melody of the choral is sung by the alto in long notes, each line is prepared by fugal entrances of the other parts on the same theme.[1] Movement 2 is a secco recitative, changing to arioso in two lines similar to the words of the choral, marked adagio. The alto aria is written in "modern" style with a solo violin in lively figuration. The bass recitative is accompanied by the strings. The tenor aria is contrasted by a concerto of the oboes and strings, which are silent in the middle section until its transition to the da capo.[1]

Recordings

References

  1. ^ a b c Dürr, Alfred (1971). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1. Bärenreiter-Verlag. OCLC 523584.
  2. ^ Luther, Martin. The Hymns of Martin Luther: Set to their original melodies; with an English version. ed. Bacon, Leonard Woolsey and Allen, Nathan H. Publisher Unknown, Year published, Unknown.

Sources

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