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Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49

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.

Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen
BWV 49
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
Interior of the Thomaskirche, location of the first performance, view along the nave, in a black-and-white 19th-century engraving
19th-century engraving of the Thomaskirche
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

Bach composed the cantata in his fourth year as Thomaskantor (director of church music) in Leipzig. The librettist, Christoph Birkmann, based his text on the prescribed Gospel, the parable of the great banquet, which he connected to imagery from the love poetry of the Song of Songs: Jesus, sung by the bass as the vox Christi, is in dialogue with the Soul, invited as his bride to the wedding, The cantata is structured in six movements, beginning with an instrumental sinfonia. The soloists perform alternating arias and dialogue recitatives. In the last movement, a stanza from Nicolai's "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" is integrated in the dialogue. The Baroque instrumental ensemble is formed by oboe d'amore, violoncello piccolo, strings, organ and basso continuo.

History and words

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Bach composed Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen in his fourth year in Leipzig for the 20th Sunday after Trinity.[2] 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).[2][3] The German term used in Luther's Bible translation is Hochzeitsmahl (wedding meal).

The cantata is termed a Dialogus.[4][5] Dialogue cantatas were a common feature in the 17th century, especially dialogues between Jesus as the Bridegroom and the Soul of the believer as the Bride, based on the Song of Songs which was traditionally interpreted that way.[4][6]

Christoph Birkmann, the librettist,[7] connected the wedding feast of the Gospel to imagery from the Song of Songs: Jesus, sung by the bass as the vox Christi invites the bride to the wedding,[8] while the other characters and aspects of the parable are not mentioned.[6][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.[4]

Bust of an 18th-century Lutheran pastor with an oval frame and an inscription in Latin below
Urban Gottfried Sieber, a pastor in Leipzig

Bach led the first performance of the cantata at the Thomaskirche[2] on 3 November 1726;[2][4] the sermon was given by Urban Gottfried Sieber [de].[2][8] No repeat performance is known with certainty.[8]

Music

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Structure and scoring

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Bach structured Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen in six movements and scored it for soprano (S) and bass (B) soloists, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of oboe d'amore (Oa), violoncello piccolo (Vcp), organ (Org), two violins (Vl), viola (Va) and basso continuo (Bc).[2][9] Klaus Hofmann summarizes: "Bach has clothed his music in the 'wedding garments' of exquisite scoring".[6] The Bach scholar Alfred Dürr gave the duration as c. 29 minutes in his book Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach.[10]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring is based on the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4
4). The continuo, playing throughout, is not listed.

Movements of Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen
No. TitleText TypeVocalWindsStrings Key Time
1 Sinfonia Oa Org 2Vl Va E major 2
8
2 Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen Birkmann Aria B Org C minor 3
8
3 Mein Mahl ist zubereit' Birkmann Recitative S B 2Vl Va A major common time / 3
8
4 Ich bin herrlich, ich bin schön Birkmann Aria S Oa Vcp A major common time
5 Mein Glaube hat mich selbst so angezogen Birkmann Recitative S B common time
6 Dich hab ich je und je geliebet
Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh		 Birkmann
Nicolai		 Recitative
chorale		 B
S		 Oa Org 2Vl Va E major 2
4

Movements

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1

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The cantata is opened by a sinfonia for concertante organ and orchestra,[5] 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.[4]

2

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The bass as the vox Christi sings an aria, "Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen dich, meine Taube, schönste Braut" (I go forth and seek with longing for you, my dove, my loveliest bride)[1], based on imagery from the Song of Songs as if Jesus said so.[4]

3

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In a secco recitative, "Mein Mahl ist zubereit' und meine Hochzeittafel fertig" (My meal is prepared and my wedding table ready)[1] the groom invites the bride to the prepared wedding, and they talk about kisses, the meal and dressing up.[1]

4

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In the soprano aria "Ich bin herrlich, ich bin schön" (I am glorious, I am beautiful)[1] 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.[6]

5

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In a recitative accompanied by strings, "Mein Glaube hat mich selbst so angezogen" (My faith itself has drawn me here),[1] the bride speaks of her faith, and the groom speaks of faithfulness until death.[1]

6

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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 sung by the soprano, 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] Nicolai subtitled his hymn a "Geistlich Brautlied" (Spiritual bridal song).[11]

Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh,
Daß mein Schatz ist das A und O,
Der Anfang und das Ende.
Er wird mich doch zu seinem Preis
Aufnehmen in das Paradeis;
Des klopf ich in die Hände.
Amen! Amen!
Komm, du schöne Freudenkrone, bleib nicht lange!
Deiner wart ich mit Verlangen.

How happy I am,
that my precious one is the A and O,
the beginning and the end;
He will claim me as his prize
and take me to Paradise,
which I will clasp in my hands.
Amen! Amen!
Come, you lovely crown of joy, do not delay,
I await you with longing.[1]

John Eliot Gardiner describes the mood of the music, accompanied by the obbligato organ, as "religious-erotic".[12] 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][6]

Recordings

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References

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Cited sources

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Further reading

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