Second Day of Christmas

Christenkinder, freuet euch!
Wütet schon das Höllenreich,
Will euch Satans Grimm erschrecken:
Jesus, der erretten kann,
Nimmt sich seiner Küchlein an
Und will sie mit Flügeln decken.

Christian children, rejoice!
Though hell’s kingdom rages,
Though Satan’s fury would frighten you:
Jesus, who can rescue you,
Takes his chicks unto himself
And will cover them with his wings.

The closing chorale of the cantata contains a formulation of the same sort, strophe 4 from Christian Keymann’s hymn of 1646, Freuet euch, ihr Christen alle (Rejoice, you Christians all): “Jesu, nimm dich deine Glieder / Ferner in Genaden an” (Jesus, take your members / Henceforth in your grace). This pair of movements is the last of three such in the cantata text that, in a peculiar and nearly singular manner, set forth a theme in free poetry and answer it with a chorale strophe. This remarkable structure of the text and hence of the cantata, in which three movements out of eight altogether are chorale strophes, is obviously intentional, and though relatively easy to perform, it is in no way a concession to the high demands on composer and performers during the Christmas feast days.

A passage from 1 John 3 provides the guiding principle of the entire libretto: “Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, daß er die Werke des Teufels zerstöre” (8; For this purpose the son of God is appeared, that he may destroy the works of the devil). What is meant by “Werke des Teufels” is explained immediately beforehand: “Wer Sünde tut, ist vom Teufel; denn der Teufel sündigt von Anfang” (He that commits sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning). However, the cantata text next praises the event of the birth of Christ, alluding to a passage from the first chapter of the Gospel of John: “Und das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnte unter uns, eine Herrlichkeit als des eingeborenen Sohnes vom Vater, voller Gnade und Wahrheit” (14; And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, a glory of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth). The beginning of the first recitative takes up these ideas:

Das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnet in der Welt,
Das Licht der Welt bestrahlt den Kreis der Erden, 
Der große Gottessohn 
Verläßt des Himmels Thron,
Und seiner Majestät gefällt, 
Ein kleines Menschenkind zu werden.

The Word became flesh and dwells in the world,
The light of the world illumines the circle of the earth,
The great son of God
Leaves the throne of heaven
And it pleases his majesty 
To become a tiny son of humankind.

The third strophe of Kaspar Füger’s hymn of 1592, Wir Christenleut (We Christian people), follows in answer:

Die Sünd macht Leid,
Christus bringt Freud,
Weil er zu Trost in dieser Welt ist kommen.
Mit uns ist Gott
Nun in der Not;
Wer ist, der uns als Christen kann verdammen?

Sin causes sorrow,
Christ brings joy,
For he is come to bring consolation in this world.
With us is God
Now in our need;
Who is there who can condemn us as Christians?

After “Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes” from the Epistle of John is set forth, the cantata text turns to the second part and the passage “daß er die Werke des Teufels zerstöre.” For the devil, the Hebrew Bible image of the snake appears, alluding in particular to the Fall of Man as depicted in Genesis: “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed among all cattle, and among every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust you shall eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; She shall trample your head, and you shall bite her heel” (3:14–15). Following a long-standing interpretive tradition, the end of this passage is understood as an announcement of the appearance of Christ. The text of our cantata also follows this interpretation, first with an aria:

Höllische Schlange,
Wird dir nicht bange?
Der dir den Kopf als Sieger zerknickt,
Ist nun geboren,
Und die verloren,
Werden mit ewigem Frieden beglückt.

Hellish snake,
Are you not afraid?
He who as victor will trample your head
Has now been born,
And those who are lost
Will be blessed with eternal peace.

The recitative that follows explains the biblical reference in more detail, whereby it is conceivable that the order of aria and recitative texts could be reversed and may actually have been so originally:

Die Schlange, so in Paradies
Auf alle Adamskinder
Das Gift der Seelen fallen ließ,
Bringt uns nicht mehr Gefahr;
Des Weibes Samen stellt sich dar,
Der Heiland ist ins Fleisch gekommen
Und hat ihr allen Gift benommen.
Drum sei getrost, betrübter Sünder.

The snake, which in Paradise
Upon all of Adam’s children
Let the poison of souls fall,
Brings us no more danger.
The woman’s seed is manifest,
The savior has come in the flesh
And has taken away all its poison.
So be comforted, downcast sinner.

In answer to the freely phrased movement pair, aria and recitative—or perhaps recitative and aria originally—there appears a chorale strophe in the manner just described, this time from Paul Gerhard’s hymn Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott (Raise yourself up to your God):

Schüttle deinen Kopf und sprich:
Fleuch, du alte Schlange!
Was erneuerst du deinen Stich,
Machst mir Angst und bange?
Ist dir doch dein Kopf zerknickt,
Und ich durchs Leiden
Meines Heilands dir entrückt
In den Saal der Freuden.

Shake your head and say:
Flee, you old serpent!
Why do you renew your sting,
Making me anxious and afraid?
If your head is truly crushed,
And I, through the suffering
Of my savior, am transported
In the hall of joys.

The closing movement pair, with its reference to the Gospel of St. Stephen’s Day, has already been described.

Bach’s composition of this text, extensive and unusually rich in chorales yet extremely clear in structure, is dominated by its multifaceted first movement. With its concerto-like interplay among horns, oboes, and strings in the festive orchestral setting with chorus, the movement begins and intensifies to an elaborate multisubject fugue in the middle section. With an abbreviated instrumental introduction and several other changes, Bach drew upon this movement for his Mass in F Major BWV 233, composed after 1735 and perhaps as much as a decade later, where it serves as a closing and crowning Cum Sancto Spiritu. A concisely framed tenor recitative leads to the first chorale movement, whose voice leading, weighed down by chromaticism, does not seem to want to recognize the words “Freud” (joy) and “Trost” (comfort) but rather concentrates entirely on the title line “Die Sünd macht Leid” (Sin causes sorrow). In any case, it convincingly prepares the heroic, wrathful bass aria “Höllische Schlange.”  Its battle-ready disposition, heard in the rhythmic patterns deployed in concentration and unusual intervallic leaps, effects a change in the course of the music. A friendlier tone is struck by the alto recitative, accompanied by strings, and the call “Fleuch, du alte Schlange” (Flee, you old snake) is afforded no musical emphasis in the ensuing chorale movement on the melody “Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott.” The tenor aria “Christenkinder, freuet euch” builds to a joyous dance in which all instruments once again take part. The closing chorale movement with the melody “Freuet euch, ihr Christen alle” remains somewhat reserved.

The cantata Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes was heard for the first time on December 26, 1723, in Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church during the main morning service and would have been repeated in the afternoon Vespers service in St. Nicholas. Bach took the extremely unusual step of noting the key biblical passage on the envelope of the score: “1. Brief des Johannes, Kapitel 3, Vers 8.” He thereby confirmed for himself that the sister cantata, Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget BWV 64 (See what love the father has shown to us), to be performed the next day, would begin with a text of the same origin: “1. Brief des Johannes, Kapitel 3, Vers 1” (First Epistle of John, chapter 3, verse 1).