Was willst du dich betrüben (Why do you want to
distress yourself), BWV 107, is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for
the seventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it
on 23 July 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the
unchanged words of Johann Heermann's chorale in seven
stanzas Was willst du dich betrüben (1630).
Bach composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the
Seventh Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings
for the Sunday are fr...(+)
Was willst du dich betrüben (Why do you want to
distress yourself), BWV 107, is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for
the seventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it
on 23 July 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the
unchanged words of Johann Heermann's chorale in seven
stanzas Was willst du dich betrüben (1630).
Bach composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the
Seventh Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings
for the Sunday are from the Epistle to the Romans, "the
wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life" (Romans 6:19–23), and from the Gospel of Mark,
the feeding of the 4000 (Mark 8:1–9).
The cantata is based on Johann Heermann's hymn in seven
stanzas, "Was willst du dich betrüben" (1630), which
is focused on trust in God, even when facing
adversaries including the devil. Trust in God is also a
theme of the Gospel. The chorales in Heermann's 1630
publication Devoti musica cordis (Music of a devoted
heart), which also included "Herzliebster Jesu, was
hast du verbrochen", the first chorale in Bach's St
Matthew Passion, have been described as "the first in
which the correct and elegant versification of Opitz
was applied to religious subjects, … distinguished by
great depth and tenderness of feeling, by an intense
love of the Saviour, and earnest but not self-conscious
humility".
The opening chorus is a chorale fantasia, the vocal
part embedded in an independent concerto of the
instruments. The cantus firmus on the melody of "Von
Gott will ich nicht lassen" is in long notes, partly
embellished, in the soprano and horn; the lower voices
are mostly set in homophony. The lines of the chorale
are not rendered separately, but accenting the bar form
(Stollen–Stollen–Abgesang) of the text, 1 and 2 are
combined, 3 and 4 are combined, 5 is single and 6 to 8
are combined. The scoring is rich in woodwinds.
The only recitative is accompanied by the oboes
d'amore, shows an extended melisma on the word
"Freuden" (joy) and culminates in an arioso in the
final line, with a melisma on "retten" (rescue). The
following four stanzas are composed as arias, not as
the typical da capo arias, but mostly in two parts, due
to the bar form of the poetry. Bach achieves variation
by changing voice type, key and time signature. He also
varies the mode, alternating major and minor keys,
expresses different Affekts, and he successfully
"blurs" the bar form of the stanzas.
The first aria depicts a "hunting scene" for bass and
strings. Bach plays on the double meaning of the German
word "erjagen", which in the text has the sense
"achieve by great exertion", but he expresses the
word's literal meaning ("to hunt") by an "outrageous
hunting call trill" of the bass. The second aria for
tenor and continuo begins with strong words on Satan as
an enemy: "Wenn auch gleich aus der Höllen / der Satan
wollte sich / dir selbst entgegenstellen / und toben
wider dich" ("Even if, out of hell, Satan wishes to set
himself against you, and vent his rage on you"). The
music is termed by Gardiner "a vivid pen-portrait of
Satan and his wiles, delivered with typically Lutheran
relish". The rhythm alternates between 6/8 and 3/4 one
measure to the next, but the change is irregular and
unpredictable. The bass line (marked "organo e
continuo") is "extravagantly animated and angular.
Albert Schweitzer likens it to the contortions of a
huge dragon".
The third aria for soprano and the two oboes d'amore
begins with an embellished version of the chorale tune,
and the last line quotes the tune exactly on the words
"was Gott will, das geschicht" ("What God wants, that
happens"). The fourth aria is scored for tenor, the
flutes in unison and muted violin.
The closing chorale is set in four parts for the
voices, but embedded in a rich orchestral Siciliano
concerto. The lines of the chorale are grouped as in
the first stanza, again highlighting line 5, "O Vater,
Sohn und Geist" ("Oh Father, Son and Spirit") as a
miniature doxology.
Although originally scored for three vocal soloists
(soprano, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, corno da
caccia, two flauti traversi, two oboes d'amore, two
violins, viola and basso continuo, I created this
arrangement for Solo Cello & Strings (2 Violins, Viola
& Cello).
