German Original
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt
1. Sinfonia
2. Recitativo B
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt
und nicht wieder dahin kommet, sondern feuchtet die Erde und macht sie
fruchtbar und wachsend, daß sie gibt Samen zu säen und Brot
zu essen: Also soll das Wort, so aus meinem Munde gehet, auch sein; es
soll nicht wieder zu mir leer kommen, sondern tun, das mir gefället,
und soll ihm gelingen, dazu ich's sende.
3. Recitativo (e Litanei) S T B
Tenor
Mein Gott, hier wird mein Herze sein:
Ich öffne dir's in meines Jesu Namen;
So streue deinen Samen
Als in ein gutes Land hinein.
Mein Gott, hier wird mein Herze sein:
Laß solches Frucht, und hundertfältig, bringen.
O Herr, Herr, hilf! o Herr, laß wohlgelingen!
Du wollest deinen Geist und Kraft zum Wortegeben
Erhör uns, lieber Herre Gott!
Baß
Nur wehre, treuer Vater, wehre,
Daß mich und keinen Christen nicht
Des Teufels Trug verkehre.
Sein Sinn ist ganz dahin gericht',
Uns deines Wortes zu berauben
Mit aller Seligkeit.
Den Satan unter unsre Füße treten.
Erhör uns, lieber Herre Gott!
Tenor
Ach! viel verleugnen Wort und Glauben
Und fallen ab wie faules Obst,
Wenn sie Verfolgung sollen leiden.
So stürzen sie in ewig Herzeleid,
Da sie ein zeitlich Weh vermeiden.
Und uns für des Türken und des Papsts
grausamen Mord und Lästerungen,
Wüten und Toben väterlich behüten.
Erhör uns, lieber Herre Gott!
Baß
Ein andrer sorgt nur für den Bauch;
Inzwischen wird der Seele ganz vergessen;
Der Mammon auch
Hat vieler Herz besessen.
So kann das Wort zu keiner Kraft gelangen.
Und wieviel Seelen hält
Die Wollust nicht gefangen?
So sehr verführet sie die Welt,
Die Welt, die ihnen muß anstatt des Himmels stehen,
Darüber sie vom Himmel irregehen.
Alle Irrige und Verführte wiederbringen.
Erhör uns, lieber Herre Gott!
4. Aria S
Mein Seelenschatz ist Gottes Wort;
Außer dem sind alle Schätze
Solche Netze,
Welche Welt und Satan stricken,
Schnöde Seelen zu berücken.
Fort mit allen, fort, nur fort!
Mein Seelenschatz ist Gottes Wort.
5. Choral
Ich bitt, o Herr, aus Herzens Grund,
Du wollst nicht von mir nehmen
Dein heilges Wort aus meinem Mund;
So wird mich nicht beschämen
Mein Sünd und Schuld, denn in dein Huld
Setz ich all mein Vertrauen:
Wer sich nur fest darauf verläßt,
Der wird den Tod nicht schauen.
Besetzung Soli: S T B, Coro: S A T B, Flauto I/II,
Viola I-IV, Fagotto, Violoncello, Continuo
Entstehungszeit 1713/14
Text 1-4: Erdmann Neumeister 171; 5: Lazarus Spengler
1524
Anlass Sexagesimae
from Bach Cantata Page
Created by Walter F. Bischof
Used with permission
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English Translation
1. Sinfonia
2. Recit. [Dictum] (B)
Just as the showers and snow from heaven fall and return
again not thither, rather give the earth moisture and make it fertile and
fruitful, so it gives seed for the sowing and bread for eating: Just so
shall the word which from mine own mouth proceedeth, be too; it shall not
come again to me empty, but shall do what I have purposed and shall that
accomplish for which I send it.
3. Recit. (T, B) & Litany (S, A, T, B)
(T)
My God, here shall my heart abide:
I open it to thee in Jesus' name now(1);
So scatter wide thy seed then
As if on fertile land in me.
My God, here shall my heart abide:
Let it bring forth in hundredfold its harvest.
O Lord, Lord, help! O Lord, O let it prosper!(2)
(S, A, T, B)
That thou might to the word thy Spirit add, and power,
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
(B)
But keep us, faithful Father, keep us,
Both me and any Christian soul,
From Satan's lies attending.
His mind has only one intent,
Of this thy word to rob us
With all our happiness.
That Satan underneath our feet be trodden,
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
(T)
Ah! Many, word and faith renouncing,
Do fall away like rotting fruit,
When persecution they must suffer.
Thus they are plunged in everlasting grief
For having passing woe avoided.
And from all the Turk's and all the Pope's
Most cruel murder and oppression,
Anger and fury, fatherlike protect us.
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
(B)
One man may but for belly care,
And meanwhile is his soul left quite forgotten;
And Mammon, too,
Hath many hearts' allegiance,
And then the word is left without its power.
How many are the souls
Of pleasure not the captive?
So well seduceth them the world,
The world which must by them instead of heav'n be honored,
So that they then from heaven stray & wander.
All those now who are gone & led astray recover.
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
4. Aria (S)
My soul's true treasure is God's word;
Otherwise are all those treasures
Mere devices
By the world and Satan woven,
Scornful spirits for beguiling.
Take them all now, take them hence!
My soul's true treasure is God's word.
5. Chorale (S, A, T, B)
I pray, O Lord, with inmost heart,
May thou not take it from me,
Thy holy word not from my mouth;
For thus shall not confound me
My sin and shame, for in thy care
I put all mine assurance:
Who shall steadfast on this rely
Shall surely death not witness.
1. Literally, "I open it to thee in the name of my Jesus."
2. Ps. 118:25.
Sexagesima Sunday.
Erdmann Neumeister, Geistliches Singen und Spielen (Gotha,
1711); Facs: Neumann T, p. 294.
2. Is. 55:10-11; 3. Martin Luther, portions of the Litany,
1528/29, with interpolated recitative; 5. Lazarus Spengler, verse 8 of
"Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt," 1524 (Wackernagel, III, #71).
1713 to 24 February 1715 (latest possible date according
to Dürr, pp. 209-210), Weimar; revised in A Minor in Leipzig.
BG 2; NBA I/7.
English translation:
© Copyright Z. Philip Ambrose
Used with permission. Visit his site at:
www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/
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Commentary
by David Smith
1. The opening instrumental sinfonia, unusually scored
for four violas, makes a strong introduction to the work. It contains "descending
rain and snow phrases" (Tadashi Isoyama, in the liner notes to the Suzuki
recording). The picture conveyed is described as "the feeling of longing
for the blossoming of Holy Scripture in the midst of desolation" (Isoyama)
or "the steadfastness and inviolability of the Word of God" (Albert Schweitzer).
2. The recitative, according to Schweitzer, is a masterpiece.
"The nearly equal divisions of the original passage are gathered up by
the music into one great unified phrase that resolves and obliterates,
as if by magic, all the rigidities of the verbal passage, giving us the
impression that the poetic thought has waited for centuries for this music
in order to reveal itself in its true plastic outline." Some later writers
are a little less excited. We should at least notice how the images of
the fruitfulness of the rain are highlighted by the accompaniment.
3. The main section of the cantata is made up of recitatives
and litany responses. The first tenor recitative is derived from the good
soil in the parable that produces a hundredfold. The believer asks that
his heart could be good soil for the Word. The litany petition - that God
add power and the Spirit to the Word.
The first bass recitative asks to be delivered from the
lies of Satan, who tries to take the Word away from us, along with our
happiness (the seed that falls on the path). The petition - "to tread down
Satan under our feet."
The second tenor recitative is about those who fall away
from the Word due to persecution (the seed that falls on thin soil). The
petition is for deliverance from the violence of the "Turk and the Pope"
- secular and religious persecution.
The second bass recitative is about those who care for
their "bellies" and for "Mammon" so that the Word is deprived of its power.
These lead many to wander from the path of heaven. Note the elaborate vocal
setting of "vom Himmel irregehen" ("from heaven stray and wander"),
which represents musically the wandering path. The petition is for God
to recover those who have strayed.
4. The soprano aria moves away from the dramatic character
of the former movement to an inward and personal reflection on the treasure
of God's word. The individual believer assents to what the church has prayed.
Schweitzer describes the accompanying musical figures as a "wave" motif,
inspired by the idea of Satan's "nets."
5. The final movement is a chorale, an early reformation
hymn expressing trust in Holy Scripture. The style is simple, bringing
together the varied styles of the previous movements in one united prayer
that God not take his Word from the believer.
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