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Mit Fried und Freud fahr ich dahin BWV 125 / BC A 168
Purification of Mary, February 25, 1725
This cantata, Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin BWV 125 (With peace and joy do I depart), belongs to Johann Sebastian Bach’s annual cycle of chorale cantatas and was first performed on February 2, 1725, in Leipzig. As was the custom on high feast days, the cantata was performed in the main service in the morning at St. Nicholas and at the vespers service in St. Thomas. The Feast of the Purification of Mary, celebrated since the seventh century, concerns the code of conduct for new mothers as recorded in Leviticus 12. This is also the basis for the Gospel reading of the day, found in Luke 2:22–32, the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple. Verse 22 reads: “And as the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord.” Following instructions regarding the animal sacrifice customary for this occasion, verse 25 continues:And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, and waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came, prompted by the Spirit, into the Temple. And when the parents brought the infant Jesus into the Temple to do for him as one does according to the law, he took him in his arms and praised God and said: Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, as you have said; for my eyes have seen your savior, which you have prepared before all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel. (25–32)
The relevant musical texts do not generally show at first glance any connection to a feast in honor of Mary. Instead, they focus on the words of the ancient Simeon, the fulfillment of his heart’s desire to meet the savior, and his longing for death. Our cantata follows this tradition; it is based on the main chorale for the feast day, Martin Luther’s Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin of 1524, which appears in the oldest hymnaries beneath the heading “Der Lobgesang Simeonis des Altvaters Nunc dimittis” (The song of praise of the greatfather’s canticle of Simeon). As usual in Bach’s chorale cantatas, the first and last strophes of the chorale are left in their original wording, while the inner strophes are transformed by an arranger, as yet unidentified, to become recitatives and arias.
Accordingly, the cantata’s libretto begins with Luther’s opening strophe:
Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin
In Gottes Willen;
Getrost ist mir mein Herz und Sinn,
Sanft und stille;
Wie Gott mir verheißen hat,
Der Tod ist mein Schlaf worden.
With peace and joy do I depart
According to God’s will.
My heart and mind are reassured,
Meek and quiet;
As God has promised me,
Death has become my sleep.
The key ideas of this chorale strophe—“getrost ist mir mein Herz und Sinn”—as well as the Sunday Gospel reading—here the words of Simeon in particular—are taken up by the aria that follows. Freely versified, it contains no reference to any of the inner strophes of Luther’s chorale:
Ich will auch mit gebrochenen Augen
Nach dir, mein treuer Heiland, sehn.
Wenngleich des Leibes Bau zerbricht,
Doch fällt mein Herz und Hoffen nicht.
Mein Jesus sieht auf mich im Sterben
Und lässt mir kein Leid geschehn.
I will, even with feeble eyes,
Look to you, my faithful savior.
Though the body’s frame collapses,
Yet do my heart and hope not fail.
My Jesus looks upon me in dying
And lets no harm befall me.
In contrast to this aria, the ensuing recitative hews closely to the chorale by intertwining chorale verses and interpolated passages of free poetry. It draws upon Luther’s second strophe, which begins:
Das macht Christus, wahr’ Gottes Sohn,
Der treue Heiland,
Den du mich, Herr, hast sehen lan.
Christ does this, true son of God,
The faithful savior,
Whom you, Lord, have allowed me to see.
The combined version grows out of this:
O Wunder, daß ein Herz
Vor der dem Fleisch verhaßten Gruft und gar des Todes Schmerz
Sich nicht entsetzet!
Das macht Christus, wahr’ Gottes Sohn,
Der treue Heiland,
Der auf dem Sterbebette schon
Mit Himmelssüßigkeit den Geist ergötzet,
Den du mich, Herr, hast sehen lan,
Da in erfüllter Zeit ein Glaubensarm das Heil des Herrn umfinge.
O wonder, that a heart,
Before the tomb hated by the flesh and even the pain of death
Is not terrified!
Christ does this, true son of God,
The faithful savior,
Who, already at the deathbed,
Delights the spirit with heaven’s sweetness,
Whom you, Lord, have allowed me to see,
When, in the fullness of time, an arm of faith might embrace the salvation of the Lord.
Once again, a link between elements from the feast day Gospel reading and the chorale characterizes the aria that follows. At its close, Luther’s third strophe speaks of his “Teuer heilsam Wort, / An allem Ort erschollen” (Precious healing word, / Resounding in all places); in the Gospel reading, Simeon speaks of a “Licht, zu leuchten den Heiden” (Light to enlighten the heathen). The librettist writes:
Ein unbegreiflich Licht erfüllt den ganzen Kreis der Erden.
Es schallet kräftig fort und fort
Ein höchst erwünscht Verheißunswort:
Wer glaubt, soll selig werden.
An incomprehensible light fills the entire circuit of the earth.
There resounds powerfully far and wide
A most desired word of promise:
Who believes shall be saved.
With the word “Verheißung” (promise) the librettist alludes to a passage from Matthew 16 that belongs to the Gospel reading for the Feast of the Ascension: “Wer da glaubet und getauft wird, der wird selig werden” (16; Whoever believes and is baptized, he will be saved). The final recitative concerns grace and forgiveness, with a clear reference to Romans 3:25: “[Christum], welchen Gott hat vorgestellt zu einem Gnadenstuhl” ([Christ], whom God has presented to a seat of grace). In summary, the fourth chorale strophe closes the cantata libretto:
Er ist das Heil und selig Licht
Für den Heiden,
Zu erleuchten, die dich kennen nicht
Und zu weiden.
Er ist deins Volks Israel
Der Preis, Ehr, Freud und Wonne.
He is the salvation and the blessed light
For the Gentiles,
To enlighten those who know you not
And to shepherd them.
He is, of your people Israel,
The praise, honor, joy, and gladness.
Bach’s composition is dominated by the expansive opening movement, in which the soprano’s chorale melody and counterpoint in the other voices subordinated to it are embedded in a floating,
8 pastorale instrumental texture. The cheerful play with the timbral possibilities of flute, oboe, and strings, thematically taking up the beginning of the chorale melody and picking up the character of “Fried” (peace) and “Freud” (joy) rather more than “dahinfahren” (departing), goes on undeterred even when the voices diminish to piano in order to lend depth and emphasis to the chorale verses “sanft und stille” (soft and still) and “der Tod ist mir schlaf geworden” (death has become sleep to me).
The aria “Ich will auch mit gebrochenen Augen nach dir, mein treuer Heiland, sehn” can boast of an exquisite vestment of sound: the alto voice is accompanied by flute and oboe d’amore as well as basso continuo, operating with slurred repeated pitches and avoiding the normally obligatory figured bass chords in consideration for the delicate weaving of the upper voices and the acutely intense expression in particular. The key (B minor), the setting, and above all the almost overabundant grace notes and appoggiaturas confirm that here Bach intended a performance of the very highest expressivity. The third movement, with its interplay of free recitative and chorale verses, is made to cohere by a brief declarative motive in the strings. It dominates nearly the entire course of the music with its liveliness except for the last four measures, in which the language of death and dying occurs and a tortuous chromaticism sets in. Afterward, the second aria movement leads directly to another world, so to speak: tenor, bass, both violins, and the basso continuo combine in a closely worked, imitative quintet. With its vivid coloraturas (for example, on the keyword “Kreis” [circle]), it provides unexpected brightness that is appropriate to the idea of “unbegreiflich Licht” (incomprehensible light) in the “ganzen Kreis der Erden” (entire circuit of the earth). After a brief alto recitative the cantata closes with a four-part movement on the melody taken from Johann Walter’s Gesangbüchlein of 1524.