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Commentaries on the Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: An Interactive Companion

Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein BWV 128 / BC A 76

Ascension, May 10, 1725

This cantata was performed for the first time in Leipzig on May 10, 1725. Hence it belongs to that remarkable transitional period after Easter 1725 when Bach, having prematurely broken off work on his chorale cantata cycle for reasons unknown to us, turned to libretti by the Leipzig poet Mariane von Ziegler, the author of the text for our Ascension cantata. Her poem appeared in her collection entitled Versuch in gebundener Schreib-Art, published in 1728—however, with several remarkable differences from the version set to music by Bach.

The central idea of the cantata text is the imitation of Christ (die Nachfolge Christi), proceeding from the opening strophe of a main hymn for the Feast of the Ascension, written by Ernst Sonnemann after Josua Wegelin and first published in 1661:

Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein
Ich meine Nachfahrt gründe
Und allen Zweifel, Angst und Pein
Hiermit stets überwinde,
Denn weil das Haupt im Himmel ist, 
Wird seine Glieder Jesus Christ
Zu rechter Zeit nachholen.

Upon Christ’s ascension alone
I base my following journey
And all doubt, tribulation, and pain
Herewith always overcome.
For since the head is in heaven,
Jesus Christ will fetch its members
Afterward in due season.


The ensuing recitative repeats this declaration as prayer:

Ich bin bereit, komm, hole mich.
Hier in der Welt
Ist nichts als Jammer, Angst und Pein;
Hingegen dort in Salems Zelt
Werd ich verkläret sein.
Da seh ich dich von Angesicht,
Wie mir dein heilges Wort verspricht.

I am ready, come, fetch me.
Here in the world
Is nothing other than sorrow, fear, and pain;
By contrast, there in Salem's tabernacle
I shall be transfigured.
There I will see your face,
As your sacred word promises me.


In contrast to this text, the version composed by Bach proves to be linguistically more skillful in one spot as it formulates “Hier in der Welt / Ist Jammer, Angst und Pein” (Here in the world / Is sorrow, fear, and pain), avoiding the rather clumsy “nichts als” (nothing other than). Elsewhere it seems problematic in view of the meter, although its content is clearer than the source text, where it reads: “Da seh ich Gott von Angesicht zu Angesicht, / Wie mir sein heilig Wort verspricht” (There I shall see God face to face, / As his holy word promises me).

The associated aria praises the victory of the one who overcomes, although its presentation in von Ziegler is somewhat irregular where, near the end, it sets up a change in meter:

Auf, jubiliert mit hellem Schall,
Verkündiget nun überall,
Mein Jesus sitzt zur Rechten,
Wer sucht mich anzufechten?
Wird er mir gleich weggenommen, 
Werd ich doch dahin auch kommen.

Up, rejoice with bright sound,
Proclaim now everywhere
My Jesus sits to the right.
Who would challenge me?
Should he now be taken from me,
I would go there too.


Even at the start, Bach’s version seems more streamlined and better adapted to the demands of singing:

Auf, auf, mit hellem Schall
Verkündiget überall:
Mein Jesus sitzt zur Rechten.

Up, up with bright sound.
Proclaim everywhere
My Jesus sits to the right.


Another intervention near the end of Mariane von Ziegler’s source text removes the unmotivated change from iambic to trochaic meter. In addition, the change facilitates a seamless transition to the next recitative while at the expense of an unrhymed line (called an orphan), although again with improved clarity of content:

Ist er von mir genommen, 
Ich werd einst dahin kommen,
Wo mein Erlöser lebt.

If he is taken from me,
I will one day come there,
Where my redeemer lives.


Similarly, at the end of the recitative just mentioned, von Ziegler’s phrase “Er wohnet nicht auf Berg und Tal, / Sein Allmacht zeigt sich überall” (He does not live on hill and valley, / His omnipotence shows itself everywhere) is extended in the version composed by Bach with “So schweig, verwegner Mund, / Und suche nicht dieselbe zu ergründen!” (Be silent, saucy mouth, / And do not seek to fathom this!). Here as well (by linguistic means that are in no way unproblematic) the intention is a closer connection with the next movement. The extension of the recitative just described is essentially an anticipation of the aria that follows:

Sein Allmacht zu ergründen,
Wird sich kein Mensche finden,
Mein Mund verstummt und schweigt. 
Ich sehe durch die Sterne,
Daß er sich schon von ferne
Zur Rechten Gottes zeigt.

To fathom his omnipotence
No person will be found.
My mouth falls dumb and silent.
I see through the stars
That he, already from afar,
Appears at God’s right hand.


A strophe from the 1673 hymn by Matthäus Avenarius O Jesu mein Lust (O Jesus my pleasure) provides summary and conclusion:

Alsdenn so wirst du mich
Zu deiner Rechten stellen
Und mir als deinem Kind
Ein gnädig Urteil fällen,
Mich bringen zu der Lust,
Wo deine Herrlichkeit
Ich werde schauen an
In alle Ewigkeit.

Therefore, you shall place me
At your right hand
And on me, as your child,
Pass a merciful sentence,
Bringing me to that delight
Wherein upon your glory
I will gaze 
In all eternity.


Setting aside the question of who is responsible for the linguistic interventions, Bach’s composition after this source text reveals his intent to include the work in the still unfinished annual cycle of chorale cantatas. That the opening and concluding movements are based on different chorale melodies—a significant deviation from the standard set by other chorale cantatas—must have seemed the lesser evil to the cantor of St. Thomas in the face of his need to compose an additional cantata. He similarly neglected the requirement that the text be drawn from the strophes of a single chorale. In any case, the opening chorus of our cantata takes on the familiar form shared by numerous sister works of the annual cycle: the chorale melody, in this case, Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, is presented line by line and in large note values by the soprano; the other voices are subordinated to the cantus firmus and supply counterpoint; while a motivically unified, independent concertante instrumental setting provides unity. In accordance with the festive occasion, the ensemble of strings and woodwinds is enriched with two horns in their high registers. 

As might be expected, the bass aria “Auf, auf, mit hellem Schall” is supplemented by a demanding, concerted part for high trumpet. Its 3
4
meter changes immediately to a duple meter of the accompanied recitative, whereby the inserted text “wo mein Erlöser lebt” serves as a connecting link. Just as immediately, another meter change follows the recitative and, with it, the reappearance of the aria’s instrumental ritornello. For the severe statement “Sein Allmacht zu ergründen, / Wird sich kein Mensche finden,” Bach chooses a quartet texture for alto, tenor, an oboe, and the basso continuo. The procedure by which the voices enter imitatively but just as often connect with one another has the effect of continuously confirming and strengthening the text statement. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the twenty-measure instrumental ritornello of this aria movement served Max Reger as thematic model for his Piano Variations op. 81. With the chorale movement on the melody O Gott, du frommer Gott, in which the four voices are once again joined by the two horns with a largely independent part, the cantata comes to a festive conclusion. 

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