Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (We must [pass] through
great sadness), BWV 146, is a cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the third Sunday
after Easter. Bach composed it in Leipzig in 1726 or
1728.
Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for the third
Sunday after Easter, called Jubilate. The prescribed
readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of
Peter, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man" (1
Peter 2:11–20), and from the Gospel of John, Jesus
annou...(+)
Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal (We must [pass] through
great sadness), BWV 146, is a cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the third Sunday
after Easter. Bach composed it in Leipzig in 1726 or
1728.
Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for the third
Sunday after Easter, called Jubilate. The prescribed
readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of
Peter, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man" (1
Peter 2:11–20), and from the Gospel of John, Jesus
announcing his second coming in a Farewell discourse
(John 16:16–23). Bach contrasted sorrow and joy in
earlier cantatas for the same occasion, first in Weimar
in 1714, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12, then in
Leipzig in 1725, Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103.
The unknown poet chose a quote from Acts 14:22 to begin
the cantata, "We must through much tribulation enter
into the kingdom of God", which Salomon Franck had
already used for the first recitative of "Weinen,
Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen". The three following movements
deplore the sufferings in the world, whereas three more
movements depict the joyful hope for a better life in
the Kingdom of God. The theme throughout his texts is a
longing for death. Movement 5 is a paraphrase of Psalms
126:5–20, which Brahms also chose for his Requiem,
"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy". Movement 6
refers to Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us".
Only the music but not the words of the closing chorale
is extant. The ninth stanza of Gregorius Richter's hymn
"Lasset ab von euren Tränen" has been suggested by
Alfred Dürr as a possible text for this closing
chorale. Klaus Hofmann suggested "Freu dich sehr, o
meine Seele" by Christoph Demantius.
Two movements of the cantata, the Sinfonia and the
first movement, are related to Bach's Harpsichord
Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052, which was possibly
derived from a lost violin concerto. The original music
for the cantata is also lost, but scholars are
convinced that it is a work of Bach. He used an
instrumental concerto in a similar way for movements of
his cantatas Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169
and Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49, where his
authorship is beyond doubt.
Bach reworked the first movement of the harpsichord
concerto to an organ concerto, expanding the strings by
woodwind instruments. He changed the second movement to
a choral movement by embedding vocal parts in the
music, but this time without additional woodwinds. The
opening chorus is superimposed onto the deeply moving
slow movement of the concerto, the anguish of the
repeated (ostinato) bass line ideally underlining a
text concerned with the tribulation that must be
endured before the kingdom of heaven is attained.
The original thirteen-bar throbbing ritornello theme is
retained but its function has changed. The voices soar
above it from the very first bar and continue to
enhance it throughout its six appearances in different
tonal environments. The ritornello theme has virtually
become a free "ground bass" throughout. The tortuous
melodic line, the main focus of attention in the
concerto setting, has now become an obbligato melody of
secondary significance. It is played by the organ, the
first time Bach has used the instrument in this way in
a chorus. The choir rises magnificently above
everything else establishing itself as the dominant
musical force, even appearing to disregard the phrasing
of the original composition. All that was of primary
importance in the concerto is now secondary to the
chorus and its message. This momentous adagio,
seemingly complete in its version for strings and
harpsichord, has taken on a whole new dimension of
musical meaning.
Filled with lamenting in the spirit of the Passion, the
movement gains its intensity from the dense and
dissonant harmonic expressiveness, and incorporates
ostinato phrases whose regular appearances seem to
illustrate inevitability.
The third movement is an alto aria with violin
obbligato, which transcends "dem Himmel zu" (towards
Heaven). The following recitative, a lament on the
persecution in the world, is accompanied by long chords
of the strings. Movement 5 illustrates in two sections
the opposition of sowing with tears and reaping with
joy, accompanied by a flute and two oboes d'amore.
Movement 7 is probably derived from a secular
dance-like movement in da capo form. A ritornello
frames the first section, continuo only accompanies the
middle section. The final chorale is set for four parts
on the melody Werde munter, mein Gemüte.
Although the cantata was scored for soprano, alto,
tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir, flauto
traverso, two oboes d'amore, taille (tenor oboe),
organ, two violins, viola and basso continuo, I created
this arrangement for Flute, Oboe & Strings (2 Violins,
Viola & Cello).
