Wo soll ich fliehen hin (Where shall I flee), BWV 5, is
a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed
the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the 19th Sunday
after Trinity and first performed it on 15 October
1724. It is based on a chorale of the same name by
Johann Heermann.
The tune for the cantata for the nineteenth Sunday
after Trinity, “Wo soll ich fliehen hin,” was
equally well known with a different set of words,
“Auf meinem lieben Gott.” At times in his settings
bot...(+)
Wo soll ich fliehen hin (Where shall I flee), BWV 5, is
a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed
the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the 19th Sunday
after Trinity and first performed it on 15 October
1724. It is based on a chorale of the same name by
Johann Heermann.
The tune for the cantata for the nineteenth Sunday
after Trinity, “Wo soll ich fliehen hin,” was
equally well known with a different set of words,
“Auf meinem lieben Gott.” At times in his settings
both for voices and for organ he had both texts in
mind, particularly the fourth section of the
cantata.
The Gospel reading from the 9th Chapter of Matthew
finds Christ in an angry mood. He cures the man with
palsy almost begrudgingly to prove his qualification
for forgiveness of sins. This anger is picked up on by
Bach. He often chooses the key of G minor for a key of
agitation and the G minor choruses in the cantatas are,
almost without exception, among his most aggressive.
The harmony has an unusual static quality, which then
veers off into precipitous and jagged diminished chords
that lead us into unexpected territories. Seldom is
Bach’s harmony so erratic, clearly calculatedly so.
"Ergieße dich reichlich, du göttliche Quelle" is the
third movement from J. S. Bach’s cantata Wo soll ich
fliehen hin, first performed on October 15, 1724.
Bach’s manuscript score does not specify the
accompanying instrument, and the original set of parts
places the accompaniment in the first violin part,
written in alto clef as it is in the score. The
placement in the violin part suggests that Bach needed
a capable player for the challenging part, and the
range of the part—which employs neither the C string
of the viola nor the E string of the violin—further
suggests a preference for it to be played on the viola,
but allowing for a performance on violin if necessary.
In contemporary performances, the instrumental
accompaniment has typically been played on the
viola.
Although this piece was originally created for Voice
(Tenor) and period instruments, I created this
arrangement for Solo Concert (Pedal) Harp.
