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Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind BWV 153 / BC A 25
Sunday after New Year, January 2, 1724
Our cantata was heard for the first time on January 2, 1724, the Sunday after New Year. The Gospel reading for this Sunday—which does not appear in the church calendar every year—is found in Matthew 2 and tells of the flight to Egypt. The Wise Men from the East had been told that they should return home another way:And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay all there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and escaped into Egypt: And stayed there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. (13–15)
The account continues with the murder of the children of Bethlehem and the retreat of the Holy Family and their settling in Nazareth.
In accordance with this scenario, church music texts for the Sunday after New Year usually deal with enemies and persecution, with encouragement and comfort, and with deliverance and rescue. This is also true of our cantata’s libretto, whose author remains unknown. The first strophe of a hymn written by David Denicke in 1646 stands at the beginning:
Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind,
Damit ich stets muß kämpfen,
So listig und so mächtig seind,
Daß sie mich leichtig dämpfen!
Herr, wo mich deine Gnad nicht hält,
So kann der Teufel, Fleisch und Welt
Mich leicht in Unglück stürzen.
See, dear God, how my enemies,
With whom I constantly must struggle,
Are so cunning and so mighty
That they easily subdue me!
Lord, if your grace does not sustain me,
Thus can the devil, flesh, and world
Easily plunge me into misfortune.
The ensuing recitative delivers a powerful depiction of the situation, comparable perhaps to the sixth chapter of the prophet Daniel:
Mein liebster Gott, ach laß dichs doch erbarmen,
Ach hilf doch, hilf mir Armen!
Ich wohne hier bei lauter Löwen und bei Drachen,
Und diese wollen mir durch Wut und Grimmigkeit
In kurzer Zeit
Den Garaus völlig machen.
My dear God, oh have mercy upon me,
Oh help me, help me poor one!
I live here among true lions and dragons,
And these want, through rage and ferocity,
In a short while
To do me in completely.
The word of God from chapter 41 of Isaiah provides comfort in this case: “Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin mit dir. Weiche nicht, ich bin dein Gott; ich stärke dich, ich helfe dir auch durch die rechte Hand meine Gerechtigkeit” (10; Fear not; for I am with you. Do not retreat, I am your God: I strengthen you; yea, I help you also with the right hand of my righteousness). The recitative that follows responds to these words of encouragement at the beginning but falls back immediately to words of despair:
Denn meiner Feinde sind so viel,
Mein Leben ist ihr Ziel.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gott! meine Not ist dir bekannt,
Die ganze Welt wird mir zur Marterhöhle;
Hilf, Helfer, hilf! Errette meine Seele!
For my enemies are so many;
My life is their goal.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
God! My distress is known to you,
The entire world becomes to me a hell of torment;
Help, helper, help! Deliver my soul!
This cry for help does not go unheeded; the answer is given by a chorale strophe taken from Paul Gerhardt’s 1653 hymn Befiehl du deine Wege (Entrust your way):
Und ob gleich alle Teufel
Dir wollten widerstehn,
So wird doch ohne Zweifel
Gott nicht zurücke gehn;
Was er ihm fürgenommen
Und was er haben will,
Das muß doch endlich kommen
Zu seinem Zweck und Ziel.
And though all the devils
Would resist you,
So without doubt
God will not retreat.
Whatever he has resolved
And whatever he intends
Must yet finally come
To his goal and aim.
This promise helps overcome the crisis of faith; the ensuing aria reveals a remarkable steadfastness:
Stürmt nur, stürmt, ihr Trübsalswetter,
Wallt, ihr Fluten, auf mich los!
Schlagt, ihr Unglücksflammen,
Über mich zusammen,
Stört, ihr Feinde, meine Ruh,
Spricht mich doch Gott tröstlich zu:
Ich bin dein Hort und Erretter.
Storm just, storm, you tempest of tribulation,
Surge, you floods, over me!
Strike, you flames of misfortune,
Engulf me altogether,
Disturb, you enemies, my peace,
Yet God says to me comfortingly:
I am your refuge and savior.
And in order to shore up faith restored, the last recitative recalls the much greater danger faced by Jesus as portrayed by the Gospel reading of the day:
Muß doch sein lieber Sohn,
Dein Jesus, in noch zarten Jahren
Viel größre Not erfahren,
Da ihm der Wüterich Herodes
Die äußerste Gefahr des Todes
Mit mörderischen Fäusten droht.
Kaum kömmt er auf die Erden,
So muß er schon ein Flüchtling werden.
Yet his beloved son,
Your Jesus, in yet tender years,
Must undergo much greater distress
When the tyrant Herod threatens
The greatest danger of death
With his murderous fists.
Hardly does he arrive on Earth
Before he must become a refugee.
From this reflection there follows:
Denjenigen, die hier mit Christo leiden,
Will er das Himmelreich bescheiden.
To those who suffer here with Christ,
He will grant the kingdom of heaven.
The associated aria retraces this path:
Soll ich meinen Lebenslauf
Unter Kreuz und Trübsal führen,
Hört es doch im Himmel auf.
Da ist lauter Jubilieren.
Daselbsten verwechselt mein Jesus das Leiden
Mit seliger Wonne, mit ewigen Freuden.
If I should lead my life’s course
Under cross-bearing and tribulation,
It will, however, stop in heaven,
Where there is loud rejoicing.
There my Jesus will exchange the suffering
For blessed gladness, for eternal joys.
The last three strophes of Martin Moller’s chorale Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (O God, how many a heartache) provide a summary of this sequence of thought.
With three each of chorale movements, recitatives, and arias, Bach’s cantata displays a relatively colorful sequence, even as it is mitigated to a certain extent by the instrumental setting’s restriction to strings. In keeping with the agitated nature of the text, sharp and intensified chromaticism is nearly ever present, with the exceptions of the last aria and the concluding chorale— this in accordance with the way traveled in the course of the text, as well as in the arioso, the third movement. Here, the word of God “Fürchte dich nicht” from Isaiah is given to the bass as expected, and the accompaniment is reduced to the basso continuo, thus focusing the concentration and earnestness of the message. Bach’s choice of
8 meter does not stand in the way of this concern, particularly since in contrast to its usual dance-like character its effect seems quite withdrawn here. In the tenor aria “Stürmt nur, stürmt, ihr Trübsalswetter,” instrumental and vocal virtuosity with jagged rhythms and sweeping scales create a powerful depiction of natural forces (intended as metaphor): thunderstorm, flood, and fire, as well as enemies disturbing the peace. Not even the promise delivered at the end, “Ich bin dein Hort und Erretter,” can effectively contain the momentum thus triggered and becoming increasingly self-sustaining. Had the composer attempted something of the sort, he would have robbed the ensuing recitative of its raison d’être. For this is actually the culmination of the overall dramatic thrust: on the one hand, the condensed review of the account in the Gospel reading from Matthew, and on the other, the motto “Denjenigen, die hier mit Christo leiden, / Will er das Himmelreich bescheiden,” set in an extended arioso that also sets it in relief from its surroundings. Immediately afterward, peace prevails: in a harmony-saturated four- and five-voice texture and a dance rhythm based on the saraband, the alto aria announces its faith in heaven. In its last third, the verse meter and character change in favor of a cheerfully elated finale. This continues to radiate over the concluding chorale movement on the melody Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht (Lord Jesus Christ, light of my life), in correspondence to the opening lines “Drum will ich, weil ich lebe noch, das Kreuz dir fröhlich tragen nach” (Therefore I will, while I still live, gladly carry the cross for you).