Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125

With peace and joy I depart ( BWV 125) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the feast of the Purification of the hymn by Martin Luther and performed it on February 2, 1725 for the first time on.

History and words

Bach wrote the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the feast of the Purification ( Presentation of the Lord ), which is celebrated on February 2. In his first year in Leipzig he had composed Pleased time in the new covenant for the occasion. The cantata belongs to his second cantata cycle. The prescribed readings were times LUT 3:1-4, "The Lord will come in his temple ", and Lk 2.22 to 32 LUT, the Presentation of the Lord. The Gospel briefly mentions the purification of Mary and gives details of Simeon, which prophesied that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. His canticle Nunc dimittis ( " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant go in peace" ) is an integral part of Compline and the Anglican Evensong. Luther's hymn in four stanzas is a paraphrase of this canticle, which was first published in 1524. Luther formed every verse of the Bible text to a verse. An unknown librettist retained the first and the last verse in the text and composed the inner verses to four sets. Sentence 2 is based on Luther's second stanza and looked Simeons view as an example of the view of one's own death. Theorem 3 comments on the full text of the 2nd verse by intervening recitatives. The allusion to the " light to the Gentiles " from the reading and the song is seen in relation to " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" ( Mark 16:16 LUT). Sentences 4 and 5 are developed from the third verse and set in relation to the teaching of Paul, " Whom God has placed for the faith as a propitiation by his blood, to demonstrate His righteousness " ( Rom. 3:25 LUT), which the Lutheran conviction of justification " by grace alone, through faith alone, through Christ alone " is emphasized even more clearly than already in Luther's song.

Bach led the cantata on 2 February 1725 for the first time.

Scoring and structure

The cantata is staffed with three vocal soloists ( alto, tenor and bass), four-part choir, horn, Flauto Traverso, Oboe, Oboe d' amore, two violins, viola and basso continuo.

Music

The opening chorus begins with a ritornello, a concert in the flute and oboe with the strings. A motif in triplet motion increases a fifth upwards, corresponding to the first interval of the Phrygian chorale melody. The soprano sings the cantus firmus in long notes. The lower parts take on the motif part of the instruments in the lines 1, 2, 3 and 5, however, the lines 4 and 6 are treated differently. In accordance with the text, " gentle and quiet " and " death has been my sleep ", they are quiet ( piano), homophonic, chromatic, and they modulate to remote keys.

The alto aria is richly decorated and is accompanied by flute and oboe d' amore, repeated over the same chords in the continuo, which are designated " legato". The phrase "broken eyes " is displayed in a broken line vowels. In the bass recitative with the chorale chorale melody appears undecorated except for the last line, " in death and dying ", which is extended by two cycles and is highlighted by chromatic coloring and rich ornamentation. The elements of recitative and chorale are connected by a string motif that runs through the whole set and was named by Alfred Dürr " joy motif". The final chorale is a simple four-part set.

Julian Mincham sees similarities between the opening chorus of the cantata and the composed later St. Matthew Passion. Both have similar motifs in groups of three eighth notes and have dense counterpoint and the key of E minor jointly. In this vein Bach also set the Crucifixus of his B minor Mass, which he developed from the 1714 cantata composed in Weimar Weeping, Lamenting, Fearing, Hesitating.

Recordings

• The Bach Cantata Vol 25, Helmuth Rilling, Figuralchor the Memorial Church Stuttgart, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Marga Höffgen, Kurt Equiluz, Wolfgang Schöne. Hänssler, 1984.
• JS Bach: The cantatas - Sacred Cantatas Vol 7 Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Tölz Boys Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Thomas Thomaschke. Teldec, 1982.
• J. S. Bach: " With peace and joy ." Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Ghent, Ingeborg Danz, Mark Padmore, Peter Kooij. Harmonia Mundi France, 1998.
• Bach Edition Vol 14 - Cantatas Vol 7 Pieter Jan Leusink, Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Sytse Buwalda, Nico van der Meel, Bas Ramselaar. Brilliant Classics, 2000.
• JS Bach: Cantatas for the Feast of Purification of Mary. John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Robin Tyson, Paul Agnew, Peter Harvey. Archiv Produktion, 2000.
• JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol 14 Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Bogna Bartosz, Jorg Dürmüller, Klaus Mertens. Antoine Marchand, 2001.
• JS Bach: Cantatas Vol 32 - BWV 111, 123, 124, 125 Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Robin Blaze, Andreas Weller, Peter Kooij. BIS, 2005.
• With peace and joy I depart. Rudolf Lutz, choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation, Alex Potter, Andreas Post, Markus Volpert. Martin Meyer ( reflection). DVD. Gallus Media, 2008.