Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch (Truly, truly I say
to you), BWV 86, is a church cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Rogate,
the fifth Sunday after Easter, and first performed it
on 14 May 1724.
Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig in his first
annual cycle for the fifth Sunday after Easter, called
Rogate. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were
from the Epistle of James, "doers of the word, not only
listeners" (James 1:22–27) and from the Gospel of
J...(+)
Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch (Truly, truly I say
to you), BWV 86, is a church cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Rogate,
the fifth Sunday after Easter, and first performed it
on 14 May 1724.
Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig in his first
annual cycle for the fifth Sunday after Easter, called
Rogate. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were
from the Epistle of James, "doers of the word, not only
listeners" (James 1:22–27) and from the Gospel of
John, from the farewell discourses of Jesus, prayers
will be fulfilled (John 16:23–30). The theme of the
cantata is a quotation from the gospel, beginning the
cantata with the promise of Jesus "Verily, verily, I
say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my
name, he will give you". An unknown poet used as
movement 3 the 16th stanza of Georg Grünwald's hymn
"Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn" (1530), and as
the closing chorale the eleventh stanza of "Es ist das
Heil uns kommen her" by Paul Speratus (1524). The poet
hints at the question how the promise can be understood
looking the reality of life. In movement 2 he uses the
image of a rose with thorns to illustrate two
conflicting aspects. In movements 3 and 4 he confirms
the promise which has to be seen in the perspective of
time. Movement 5 refers to the waiting for a promise
being kept, and the closing chorale assures that God
knows the right time. The structure of the six
movements – a gospel quotation in the beginning,
chorales as movements 3 and 6, the sequence of
recitative and arias – is similar to Wo gehest du
hin? BWV 166, first performed one week earlier.
The gospel quotation is given to the bass as the vox
Christi, the voice of Jesus. The instruments, strings
probably doubled by oboe d'amore, introduce vocal
motifs which the voice picks up. The bass sings the
text three times, while the instruments continue
playing the same motifs. Julian Mincham observes: "The
richness of the text, the unobtrusive nature of the
melodic ideas and the gently flowing rhythms combine to
create an appropriate atmosphere of dignified
restraint".
In movement 2, the alto is accompanied by the strings
and a violin obbligato in virtuoso figuration, which
may illustrate the heavenly light promised as the final
fulfillment. In the chorale of movement 3, the
unadorned cantus firmus in the soprano is embedded in a
trio of the two oboes d'amore and the continuo. In
movement 5, the last aria, a motif of five notes is
first introduced by the violin and then picked up by
the tenor on the words "Gott hilft gewiß" (God's help
is sure). The motif is repeated in the violin again and
again. The closing chorale is set for four parts.
Although originally written for three vocal soloists
(alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir only for the
closing chorale, two oboes d'amore, two violins, viola
and basso continuo, I created this arrangement for
Flute, Oboe & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION