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

In allen meinen Taten BWV 97 / BC A 189

Purpose Not Transmitted, 1734

This cantata, In allen meinen Taten BWV 97 (In all my deeds), belongs to a small group of vocal compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach that are based on a chorale in its original state, that is, with all of its strophes intact and unchanged. Sibling works that particularly bear mentioning here are the cantatas Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut BWV 117, Nun danket alle Gott BWV 192, Lobe den Herrn, den mächtigen König der Ehren BWV 137, and Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan BWV 100. For the most part, these are chorale compositions without specific occasions in the church calendar; that is, the chorale’s equivocal assignments in hymnals are reflected in concertante church music. With respect to our cantata, a copy from the second half of the nineteenth century seems to qualify this observation, since it mentions that the work is for the fifth Sunday after Trinity. But since this statement cannot be corroborated by other evidence, it remains uncertain.1

More significant is a note in Bach’s score, entered by a contemporary, according to which the last three movements are meant for performance “after the wedding” (nach der Trauung). In fact, the hymn In allen meinen Taten is found in hymn collections of the period beneath the rubric “Standes- und Berufs-Lieder” (Hymns of rites of passage in life and profession) with the separate heading “Vom Ehe- und Hausstande” (Of marriage and household). Bach’s score is dated 1734 in the hand of the composer. Whether the work was initially intended for a wedding or whether the note was applied in connection with a much later reperformance remains unclear at present. The person who made the note “nach der Trauung” can certainly be regarded as reliable because he apparently belonged to the circle around Bach’s son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnickol in Naumburg, is later known to have been active in Jena and even in Leipzig, and is thought to have been born only in 1734 or 1735.2

It should also be borne in mind that the chorale in question originally was focused in an entirely different direction. In hymnaries of the period, it even appears with the heading “Ein schönes Reiselied” (A beautiful journeying hymn), and this characterization has to do with the biography of the poet. Paul Fleming, the hymn’s author, came from Hartenstein in Saxony, not far from Zwickau near the Ore Mountains. He was born there in 1609 as the son of a schoolmaster whose promotion to deacon and then pastor made possible his son’s attendance at the secondary school in Mittweida as well as the St. Thomas School in Leipzig and finally his study of medicine at the University of Leipzig. In Leipzig his poetic ambitions received a major boost when he met Martin Opitz, twelve years his senior, who was head of the Silesian school of poetry. The turmoil of war and, in particular, developments following the death of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden caused Fleming to leave Leipzig and seek his fortune in the land of Duke Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein. From October 1633 until April 1635 he took part in a delegation journey to Moscow that hoped to win transit permits for a later delegation through Reval, Moscow, Astrakhan, and the Caspian Sea to Persia. This second expedition indeed took place, and Fleming was again among the participants. On this trip, his time away from home lasted almost four years. Within months of his return to Hamburg in early 1640, Fleming died as a result of the stress of travel. He penned the chorale In allen meinen Taten during preparations for his first trip in 1633, a journey that was shorter but hardly less dangerous. 

In its original form, the chorale included more than the nine strophes used in Bach’s cantata. Older hymn collections preserve this more extensive version as a Reise-Lied, even though they recommend omitting some of the verses if the hymn were to be sung for other occasions. The first of these special Reise-Strophen reads:

Ich zieh in ferne Lande,
Zu nützen einem Stande,
An den er mich gestellt.
Sein Segen wird mir lassen,
Was gut und recht ist, fassen,
Zu dienen seiner Welt.

I travel to distant lands
To serve a purpose
For which he has placed me.
His blessing will allow me
What is good and right to grasp
To serve his world.


Other special strophes concern Christ as protector and aid in danger, the means of travel, protection against enemy attacks through the intervention of an angel, the hope for a happy return, the blessing and protection of those at home. The nine strophes that form the core of the chorale, which appear in nearly all pertinent hymn collections, address the main idea presented in the first strophe from various perspectives:

In allen meinen Taten
Laß ich den Höchsten raten,
Der alles kann und hat;
Er muß zu allen Dingen,
Solls anders wohl gelingen,
Selbst geben Rat und Tat.

In all my deeds
I let the Most High counsel me,
Who has and can do everything;
He must, in all things,
If it should otherwise succeed,
Give counsel and action himself.


As we have said, Bach’s composition relies upon the unchanged chorale text and, indeed, that of the shorter version comprising only nine strophes. Because Bach dispenses here with the otherwise common procedure of reshaping the internal strophes to approach the modern formal world of aria and recitative, several strophes must accommodate themselves to composition not only as arias but even as recitatives. However, Bach made every effort in the opening and closing movements to compensate for this problematic aspect. The first movement in particular radiates dignity and celebration, as it combines the modern instrumental form of French overture with cantus firmus polyphonic chorale arrangement. 

Accordingly, oboes, strings, and the basso continuo proceed in a solemn introduction marked Grave with stately harmonies in alternation with dotted rhythms and pathos-laden, wide-ranging scales. As expected, the soprano presents the chorale melody. But in contrast to his method in his chorale cantatas composed a decade earlier, the other voices do not provide motet-like counterpoint, with the choir enclosed in an independent motivically unified instrumental part. Instead, the three lower voices perform passages that are scarcely different from the animated instrumental part; little care is taken to maintain the distinction between vocal and instrumental voice leading. Certainly, Bach is aiming for a meaningful unity here as he effects a far-reaching integration of the vocal part with the dominant instrumental part—but very much at the expense of the choral singers. With respect to the French overture form, the composer opts for a two-part design, distancing himself from the traditional tripartite scheme. Even so, the connection to the origins of the form is preserved in other ways: in two episodes in the fast section, a classic example of a “French trio”—two oboes and a bassoon—emerges soloistically.

A reminiscence of a completely different kind awaits in the closing chorale: here the four-part vocal texture joins the three independent parts of the strings, thereby achieving a seven-part texture, for which Johann Sebastian Bach had previously shown a preference near the end of his time at Weimar.

The arias and recitatives, situated between the cornerstones of the French overture and closing chorale, all avoid any reference to the chorale tune, the melody O Welt ich muß dich lassen (O world, I must leave you) by Heinrich Isaac. Instead, they attempt in many different ways to interpret the chorale strophes. The relatively large number of single movements makes possible a broad spectrum of various procedures and settings. The secco recitative is represented here, in which the voice is supported only by the continuo, as well as the accompagnato recitative, enriched by the strings. An aria for alto and strings that pays tribute to the catchy syncopations of the fashionable Lombard rhythm is juxtaposed to a rather conventional aria for soprano and two oboes. A bass aria accompanied only by the basso continuo effects a kind of barrenness that seems appropriate to the text “mein Sorgen ist umsonst” (my care is in vain), while the same procedure in the duet for soprano and bass allows the confirming and empowering imitation in the voices to be perceived clearly. The tenor aria, the fourth movement, seems a bit curious among these events; here a solo violin is added to the voice, which seeks to evoke another memory: with virtuoso figuration, expressive scales, and chordal textures of two to four parts, it harks back to the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Alone (BWV 1001–6), which Bach completed by 1720 at the latest and which may go back to his years at Weimar.

Footnotes

  1. Marc-Roderich Pfau has proposed that BWV 97, as well as three further chorale cantatas without stipulated occasions in the church calendar, may have been composed by Bach for the court of Weissenfels when Bach held the title of court music director there from 1729 to 1736. See Pfau (2015, 347).—Trans.
  2. Wollny (2000, 90–92); Wollny (2002, 46–47).

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