Born on March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Thuringia,
Germany, Johann Sebastian Bach had a prestigious
musical lineage and took on various organist positions
during the early 18th century, creating famous
compositions like "Toccata and Fugue in D minor." Some
of his best-known compositions are the "Mass in B
Minor," the "Brandenburg Concertos" and "The
Well-Tempered Clavier." Bach died in Leipzig, Germany,
on July 28, 1750. Today, he is considered one of the
greatest Western composers of all time.
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Born on March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Thuringia,
Germany, Johann Sebastian Bach had a prestigious
musical lineage and took on various organist positions
during the early 18th century, creating famous
compositions like "Toccata and Fugue in D minor." Some
of his best-known compositions are the "Mass in B
Minor," the "Brandenburg Concertos" and "The
Well-Tempered Clavier." Bach died in Leipzig, Germany,
on July 28, 1750. Today, he is considered one of the
greatest Western composers of all time.
There can be little doubt that this is the best known
and most admired of Bach's earliest cantatas. It could
be argued that in later years Bach's art became a great
deal more mature, but it hardly grew more profound. It
is one of those art works that stands at the crossroads
of time, seeming to look both forward and backwards. In
the latter instance it is highly sectional, with little
in the way of the extended, developed movements of the
later years, it is lightly orchestrated, begins with a
short introductory sinfonia and it draws principally
upon chorales and biblical references with the minimum
of added text. On the other hand, it is created from
structural elements which operate across and unite
movements, the writing is highly idiomatic and the
musical architecture derives principally from the
essence of the text.
It is a work of such depth and intensity that one can
scarcely avoid speculating that the deceased for whose
internment it was composed, had some personal
connection with the twenty-two year old composer. Or
perhaps it simply struck a chord that reminded him of
the death of his own parents, scarcely more than a
dozen years previously. But whatever the personal
impact the occasion might have had on him, there is no
disputing the depth and profundity which the emerging
composer managed to elicit from the minimal lines of
conventional text.
The segmented nature of this work makes it seem more
complex than it really is. It falls into four basic
movements thus: sinfonia, chorus (with solos), aria
(becoming a duet) and closing chorale. The longest and
most complex of the two hybrid movements is the
second.
The third movement (like the second) is a hybrid, an
alto aria transforming itself into a duet. The former
is only supported by the continuo which provides a line
of great expressivity. Its opening statement, taking us
to the alto entry in the third bar, ascends over a full
two octaves and its inexorable sense of direction and
the assured cadence which ends each of its statements
combine to produce a melodic line of unequivocal
confidence----I commit my soul to Thy hand for You have
redeemed me Oh great, devoted God.
The line has the appearance of a ground bass, initially
repeating itself in the keys of C and Gm, but Bach
seldom allows himself to be restricted by the
constraints of this repetitive principle. As in many
later continuo arias which begin similarly, he quickly
detaches sections of the melody and develops them
independently, here as early as bar 10 where the
initial seven-note rising scale is sequenced.
This movement is interesting for a number of reasons.
Firstly it demonstrates the range of melodic interest
and musical expression which may be wrung from two
simple lines. Secondly, it reveals that very early in
his career Bach was prepared to experiment with ways of
inserting chorale melodies into the textures of other
movements, not just content to use them as
free-standing hymn tunes. Thirdly, the hybrid
structure, combining as it does, aria, duet, chorale
and incipient ground bass, indicates his eclectic
approach to musical forms and their various
combinations. Fourthly, the shape of the initial
continuo motive seems to have been derived from notions
embedded within the text, a process that, in his
continuing maturity as an artist, Bach was to develop
in ways beyond those of any other contemporary
composer.
Although originally written for Flutes (2), Viola da
Gambas (2), Alto Voice and Basso Continuo, I created
this arrangement for Brass Quintet (Bb Trumpet,
Flugelhorn, Trombone, French Horn & F Tuba).