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Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen, BWV 43

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Ascension, occasion of the cantata, Church of the Holy Cross in Jelenia Góra
Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen
BWV 43
Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach
OccasionFeast of the Ascension
Bible text
Choraleby Johann Rist
Performed30 May 1726 (1726-05-30): Leipzig
Movements11 in two parts (5 + 6)
VocalSATB soloists and choir
Instrumental
  • 3 trumpets
  • timpani
  • 2 oboes
  • 2 violins
  • viola
  • continuo

Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen ("God goes up with jubilation"[1] or "God has gone up with a shout"), BWV 43,[a] is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the Feast of the Ascension and first performed it on 30 May 1726. It begins with a quotation from Psalm 47.

History and words

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Bach composed the cantata in his third year in Leipzig for the feast of Ascension.[2] The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Acts of the Apostles, the prologue and Ascension (Acts 1:1–11), and from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus telling his disciples to preach and baptise, and his Ascension (Mark 16:14–20).

The text of the cantata is unusual as it consists mostly of a poem in six stanzas, which forms movements 5 to 10 of the work in 11 movements. The structure is similar to that of cantatas by Bach's cousin Johann Ludwig Bach, court conductor in Meiningen,[3] that Bach performed during 1726: Old Testament quotation, recitative, aria, New Testament quotation, poem, chorale. The first quotation is taken from Psalm 47 (Psalms 47:5–7) and is traditionally understood as a reference to the Ascension. The other quotation in movement 4 is verse 19 from the gospel. An unknown poet paraphrased in recitative and aria an idea from Psalm 68 (Psalms 68:18) as well as its quotation in the Epistle to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4:8), "when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive". In movement 7 he used the motif of Christ in the winepress.[4]

The cantata is closed by the first and thirteenth stanza of Johann Rist's hymn "Du Lebensfürst, Herr Jesu Christ" (1641). Bach would later use stanza four of the chorale for his Ascension Oratorio.[5] The cantata consists of two parts, to be performed before and after the sermon. Bach first performed it on 30 May 1726.[2]

Scoring and structure

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The cantata is festively scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, three trumpets, timpani (tamburi in the autograph[6]), two oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo.[2]

Movements of Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen, BWV 43, Part I
No. Title Type Vocal Winds Strings Brass & Percussion Key Time
1 Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen Chorus SATB 2Ob 2Vl, Va, Bc 3Trp, Tmp C major common time
2 Es will der Höchste sich ein Siegsgepräng bereiten Recitative Tenor Bc common time
3 Ja tausendmal tausend begleiten den Wagen Aria Tenor 2Vl, Bc G major 6/8
4 Und der Herr, nachdem er mit ihnen geredet hatte Recitative Soprano Bc common time
5 Mein Jesus hat nunmehr Aria Soprano 2Ob 2Vl, Va, Bc E minor common time
Movements of Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen, BWV 43, Part II
No. Title Type Vocal Winds Strings Brass Key Time
6 Es kommt der Helden Held Recitative Bass 2Vl, Va, Bc C major common time
7 Er ists, der ganz allein Aria Bass Bc 1Trp C major common time
8 Der Vater hat ihm ja Recitative Alto Bc common time
9 Ich sehe schon im Geist Aria Alto 2Ob Bc A minor 3/4
10 Er will mir neben sich Recitative Soprano Bc common time
11 Du Lebensfürst, Herr Jesu Christ Chorale SATB 2Ob (col Soprano) 1Vl (col Soprano),
1Vl (coll'Alto),
Va (col Tenore),
Bc 		2Trp (col Soprano),
1Trp (coll'Alto) 		G major common time

Music

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The opening chorus with the full orchestra is the "centre of gravity" of the cantata.[3] It opens with an introduction marked "adagio", played by the strings doubled by the oboes. Then a fugue begins, two instrumental entries are followed by choral entries, a climax is reached in an entry of the first trumpet. A second fugue includes remote and minor keys. The second part of the text, "lobsinget Gott, lobsinget unserm Könige" (sing praises to God, sing praises unto our King)[1] is first sung in homophony, but then presented in a third fugue on the theme of the first, followed by a homophonic coda.[2][3] A secco recitative leads to the first aria, accompanied by the violins in unison. The complete text is sung three times in different sections. The New Testament quotation is sung not by the bass as the vox Christi but, likely because Jesus is not speaking himself, instead the soprano narrates "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" as a secco recitative.[2] Movement 5 concludes Part I and is based on the first stanza of the poem. The soprano is accompanied by the strings, doubled by the oboes. In the middle section, the words "Er schließt der Erde Lauf" (He finishes His course on earth,[1] literally: "He finishes the course of the earth") are expressed by an upward melisma and one downward on the repeat of the words.[2]

Part II handles the other five stanzas of the poem, alternating recitative and aria. The first recitative is accompanied by the strings, the others are secco. The bass aria is highlighted by an obbligato trumpet part, but it is so difficult that Bach gave it to a violin in a later performance. The words "voll Schmerzen, Qual und Pein" (full of sorrow, torment and pain)[1] are illustrated by a slower tempo and harmonic tension. The following recitative refers in the end to the view towards heaven, expressed by an upward motion. The last aria, accompanied by the oboes, enjoys the victory over the enemies, in a vision of peace rather than a description of a battle,[2] but stresses the words "aus Jammer, Not und Schmach" (out of suffering, distress and ignominy)[1] by "harmonic darkening".[3] The closing chorale is a four-part setting of the melody of Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist, composed by Johann Schop in 1641.[7] According to Klaus Hofmann, the setting was composed not by Bach himself, but by Christoph Peter (1626–89), cantor in Guben, as printed in the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (New Leipzig hymnal) of 1682.[3]

Recordings

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Notes

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  1. ^ "BWV" is Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, a thematic catalogue of Bach's works.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 43 – Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford University Press. pp. 331–336. ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4.
  3. ^ a b c d e Hofmann, Klaus. "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen, BWV 43 / God is gone up with a shout" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 6. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  4. ^ Braatz, Thomas (2005). "Bach, the Grape-Stamper (BWV 43/7)". Bach Cantatas Website. Princeton University Press. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Du Lebensfürst, Herr Jesu Christ / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas Website. 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  6. ^ Marshall, R. L. (1972). The compositional process of J. S. Bach: A study of the autograph scores of the vocal works. Vol. 1. Princeton University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-8357-4038-8.
  7. ^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist / Du Lebensfürst, Herr Jesu Christ". Bach Cantatas Website. 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2012.

Sources

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