Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (Only upon You, Lord
Jesus Christ,), BWV 33,[a] is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata
in Leipzig in 1724 for the thirteenth Sunday after
Trinity and first performed it on 3 September 1724. It
is based on the hymn by Konrad Hubert (1540).
Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig
for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. That year,
Bach composed a cycle of chorale cantatas, begun on the
first Sunday afte...(+)
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (Only upon You, Lord
Jesus Christ,), BWV 33,[a] is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata
in Leipzig in 1724 for the thirteenth Sunday after
Trinity and first performed it on 3 September 1724. It
is based on the hymn by Konrad Hubert (1540).
Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig
for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. That year,
Bach composed a cycle of chorale cantatas, begun on the
first Sunday after Trinity of 1724. The prescribed
readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the
Galatians, Paul's teaching on law and promise
(Galatians 3:15–22), and from the Gospel of Luke, the
parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:23–37).
The cantata is based on the hymn by Konrad Hubert which
was published in Nürnberg in 1540 with an added fourth
stanza. Each of the stanzas consists of nine lines. For
the cantata text, an unknown poet kept the words of
stanzas 1 and 4 unchanged for movements 1 and 6. He
transcribed the ideas of the inner stanzas, each to a
sequence of recitative and aria. Due to the splitting
of each stanza in two movements, the paraphrasing is a
more independent from the original than for the
previous cantatas of the cycle, last Herr Jesu Christ,
du höchstes Gut, BWV 113. The hymn, concentrating on
the sinner asking Jesus for redemption, is only
generally connected to the Gospel. The poet connects to
the Gospel in movement 4, "Gib mir nur aus
Barmherzigkeit / den wahren Christenglauben" (Of your
mercy grant me / the true Christian faith), addressing
God as the true "Good Samaritan", also in movement 5,
"Gib, daß ich aus reinem Triebe / als mich selbst den
Nächsten liebe" (Grant that my purest impulse may be /
to love my neighbour as myself"), citing the central
line of the parable. The poet also refers to other
Bible passages, in movement 2 to Job 9:3, "If he will
contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a
thousand.", and in movement 4 to both Psalms 51:13,
"Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners
shall be converted unto thee." and Galatians 5:6, "Then
will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall
be converted unto thee."
The chorale melody "Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" of
unknown authorship was documented in a 1541 Wittenberg
publication. It was used extensively, for example by
Sethus Calvisius and Michael Praetorius. According to
Klaus Hofmann, it was composed in 1512 for a secular
song by Paul Hofhaimer. In the cantata, Bach uses the
melody completely in a chorale fantasia in movement 1
and in the closing chorale, while he alludes to it in
movement 5, a duet.
In his first year in Leipzig, Bach had composed for the
same occasion Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben, BWV
77, opening with a chorus on important law, on which,
according to the parallel Matthew 22:34–40, "hang all
the law and the prophets": "You shall love God, your
Lord, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor
as yourself".
The cantata in six movements is scored for three vocal
soloists—alto, tenor and bass—a four-part choir,
two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allein_zu_dir,_Herr_Jesu
_Christ,_BWV_33).
I created this arrangement of the first Aria: "Wie
furchtsam wankten meine Schritte" (How fearfully my
steps wander) for String Quintet (2 Violins, 2 Violas &
Cello).
