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Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange BWV 155 / BC A 32
Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 19, 1716
The cantata Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange BWV 155 (My God, how long, ah long) is for the second Sunday after Epiphany. Its text comes from the annual cycle Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer, printed in 1715 by Weimar chief consistory secretary Salomon Franck, where it bears the heading “Auf den andern Sonntag nach der Offenbahrung Christi.” Its first performance must have taken place in the Weimar castle chapel on January 19, 1716. Eight years later, the work was heard again, this time in St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. “Am andern Sonntage nach der Erscheinung Christi,” as it appears in a 1724 text booklet that survived by chance.Like other cantata librettists of the period, the poet Salomon Franck drew upon the Gospel reading for the Sunday, the account of the marriage in Cana in Galilee, in the second chapter of John. From this he took a rather peripheral statement, Jesus’s answer to his mother’s remark that there was not enough wine: “Weib, was hab ich mit dir zu schaffen? Meine Stunde ist noch nicht gekommen” (4; Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet come). In addition, there are passages from the Epistle for the Sunday, found in Romans 12, containing Christ’s rules of life. In particular, Franck takes up the verses “seid fröhlich in Hoffnung, geduldig in Trübsal, haltet an am Gebet” (12; rejoice in hope, be patient in misfortune, keep to prayer) and “freuet euch mit den Fröhlichen und weinet mit den Weinenden” (15; rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep).
In the following recitative verse, the librettist summarizes the situation of waiting for Jesus, who keeps himself in hiding and has made no efforts to turn water into wine:
Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange?
Des Jammers ist zuviel,
Ich sehe gar kein Ziel
Der Schmerzen und der Sorgen!
Dein süßer Gnadenblick
Hat unter Nacht und Wolken sich verborgen,
Die Liebeshand zieht sich, ach! ganz zurück.
Um Trost ist mir sehr bange,
Ich finde, was mich Armen täglich kranket,
Das Tränen-Maß wird stets voll eingeschenket,
Der Freuden-Wein gebricht,
Mir sinkt fast alle Zuversicht.
My God, how long, ah long?
The misery is too great,
I see no end at all
For pain and troubles!
Your sweet glance of grace
Has hidden itself beneath night and clouds,
The hand of love, ah! withdraws itself completely.
For comfort I am quite worried.
I find, what grieves my poor self daily,
The measure of tears is always given in full.
The wine of joy is broken,
For me almost all confidence sinks.
The frequency of compound words (“Gnadenblick,” “Liebeshand,” “Tränen-Maß,” “Freuden-Wein”) is typical of this librettist's style. A significant source for constructions of this sort turns out to be the metaphorical language of mystical imagery, such as the bittersweet suffering, symbolized by “Tränen-Maß” and “Freuden-Wein,” as a form of sympathy for the suffering in the Passion of Christ. Other things go back to literal quotations of biblical text, such as the verse that rhymes with the title, “Um Trost ist mir sehr bange,” found in Isaiah 38, regarding King Hiskia during his fatal illness: “Siehe, um Trost war mir sehr bange. Du aber hast dich meiner Seele herzlich angenommen, daß sie nicht verdürbe; denn du wirfts alle meine Sünden hinter dich zurück” (17; Behold, for comfort I had great worry: you however have sincerely taken my soul yourself, that it not be corrupted: for you cast all my sins behind your back). In this vein, Franck formulates a comforting motto urging patience in his second cantata movement, an aria:
Du mußt glauben, du mußt hoffen,
Du musst gottgelassen sein!
Jesus weiß die rechten Stunden,
Dich mit Hilfe zu erfreun.
Wenn die trübe Zeit verschwunden,
Steht sein ganzes Herz dir offen.
You must believe, you must hope,
You must rely on God.
Jesus knows the right hour
To cheer you with his help.
When the dismal time is vanished,
His entire heart stands open to you.
A longer recitative text offers a more detailed explanation:
So sei, o Seele, sei zufrieden!
Wenn es vor deinen Augen scheint,
Als ob dein liebster Freund
Sich ganz von dir geschieden,
Wenn er dich kurze Zeit verläßt,
Herz, glaube fest,
Es wird ein Kleines sein,
Da er für bittre Zähren
Den Trost- und Freudenwein
Und Honigseim für Wermut will gewähren.
Then be content, O Soul!
If to your eyes it seems
As though your dearest friend
Is completely gone from you,
If he leaves you for a short time,
Heart, be firm in your belief,
It will be only a little while
When he, in place of bitter tears
The wine of joy and comfort
And honey in place of wormwood will grant you.
Here again is the metaphor of “bittersweet suffering” in the form of tears and wine, wormwood and honey. What follows lends assurance that all of this serves as a test of faith:
Er machet, daß dein Herz bei trüben Stunden weine,
Damit sein Gnadenlicht
Dir desto lieblicher erscheine.
He causes your heart at dark hours to weep
That his light of grace
May appear all the lovelier to you.
In a play on words favored by Salomon Franck, the word “weinen” here reinterprets the earlier symbol for joy, “Wein.” The closing lines of the recitative urge faith in God’s love:
Er hat, was dich ergötzt,
Zuletzt
Zu deinem Trost dir vorbehalten,
Drum laß ihn nur, o Herz, in allem walten!
What delights you,
At last
He has reserved for you for your comfort.
Therefore let him govern, O heart, in all things!
In the address “o Herz!” the way to a reference to the Song of Songs is found, which consequently has left its mark on the associated aria:
Wirf, mein Herze, wirf dich noch
In des Höchsten Liebesarme,
Daß deiner dich erbarme.
Lege deinen Sorgen Joch,
Und was bisher dich geladen,
Auf die Achseln seiner Gnaden.
Throw yourself, my heart,
Into the loving arms of the Most High
That he may have mercy upon you.
Lay the yoke of your troubles
And whatever has burdened you till now
Upon the shoulders of his grace.
In catechetic fashion, the closing chorale strophe summarizes the sequence of ideas in the cantata libretto; it is taken from Paul Speratus’s hymn of 1524, Es ist das Heil uns kommen her (It is salvation now come to us):
Ob sichs anließ, als wollt er nicht,
Laß dich es nicht erschrecken,
Denn wo er ist am besten mit,
Da will ers nicht entdecken.
Sein Wort laß dir gewisser sein,
Und ob dein Herz spräch lauter Nein,
So laß doch dir nicht grauen.
Though it seems as though he was unwilling,
Do not let it frighten you,
For where he is best with you,
That he will not disclose.
Let his word be more certain for you,
And if your heart says loudly No,
Do not allow yourself to tremble.
Despite its spare setting, Bach’s composition after Salomon Franck’s text exhibits a remarkable wealth of invention. Thus, in the opening soprano recitative, accentuated by chordal harmonies in the strings, the tormenting situation of waiting is elucidated by a pedal point, the continuous repetition of the same bass tone: a change happens only in measure 12, after ninety pulses. A coloratura garland on the keyword “Freudenwein” vanishes as quickly as it appears, to be replaced by descending figures that, with the final line, “Mir sinkt fast alle Zuversicht,” lead back to the initial mood of despondency. The first comforting adage appears in distinctive textures: in parallel or imitatively, speaking alternately and confirming one another, the alto and tenor present their “Du mußt glauben, du mußt hoffen.” With mischievous intervallic leaps, coy trill figures, and extensive scales, the obbligato bassoon delivers its rejoinder to the stiffness and stasis of the opening movement. “Ein ernstes Wort” (an earnest word), performed by the bass voice, with its association to the vox Christi or the voice of a prophet, follows the friendly reminder of the duet. In contrast to the soprano recitative at the beginning, in which the attempts of the soprano voice at an independent unfolding were counteracted by the pedal point in the bass, in the bass recitative, text declamation, subtly evocative melody, and harmonic foundation are brought into complete agreement. The urging to satisfaction and faith in God thus cannot fail in its effect, and the aria for soprano and strings, “Wirf mein Herze, wirf dich noch / In des Höchsten Liebesarme” (Throw yourself, my heart / Into the loving arms of the Most High), takes this into account with its steady harmonies, exuberantly dance-like rhythms, and gesture unmistakably directed at faith. This also strengthens the closing chorale movement with its deliberately simple harmonization on the hymn with its roots in the pre-Reformation, Es ist das Heil uns kommen her.