This page was created by James A. Brokaw II. The last update was by Angela Watters.
Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft BWV 50 / BC A 194
Purpose Not Transmitted, Date of Origin Unknown
Even today there is a profound lack of any information regarding the cantata Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft BWV 50 (Now is the salvation and the power) that could lead to a convincing classification of the work within Bach’s oeuvre. This is not a cantata in the strict sense but rather a fragment, a single movement broken off from its original context. One might imagine that it is the beginning or conclusion of a multimovement composition. Its text, from Revelation 12, points unmistakably to St. Michael’s Day: “Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft und das Reich und die Macht unsers Gottes seines Christus worden, weil der verworfen ist, der sie verklagete Tag und Nacht vor Gott” (10; Now is the salvation and the strength and the kingdom and the might of our God become Christ’s, for the one is cast down who accused them day and night before God).A double choir with eight parts, a festival orchestra with trumpets and drums, oboes and strings: all unite in powerful fugal expositions but nevertheless leave several significant questions open. These concern obvious weaknesses of the composition and force us to consider the work’s authenticity, or at least that of the version handed down to us. In-depth analysis of the musical notation leads to the hypothesis of an original version with five instead of eight voices that was later arranged for double choir. The last word has yet to be spoken as to whether this revision was the work of Bach himself or that of a student or contemporary.1
Footnotes
- Questions of authenticity have been addressed by Scheide (1982); Scheide (2001); Hofmann (1994); Stein (1999); and Rifkin (2000). ↵