“Wo soll ich fliehen hin” (Whither shall I flee) (BWV 5), vhich belongs to the Chorale cantata year, was first performed on the 15th October 1724. It based on the eleven verse hymn by Johann Heermann (1630), whose inner verses have been paraphrased into an alternation of three recitatives and two arias. The choice of this hymn for the 19th Sunday after Trinity, with its Gospel reading on the healing of the man sick of the palsy, is explained by the words of Jesus “thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matthew 9,2]. They awaken a personal consciousness of sin, but also the certainty that through Jesu's death the congregation of the faithfull is freed from its sins.
The opening movement follows the plan usually found in the chorale cantatas. The independent orchestral writing, which nevertheless has thematic material developed from the beginning of the chorale, incorporates the chorale melody (“Auf meinen lieben Gott”) line by line, sung by the sopranos (+ trumpet) and supported by the other voices. The two arias are characterized by contrasted “affects”; the first (3rd movement) with obligato viola, is dominated by the flowing motion depicting the “divine spring”, the second (5th movement), by a passionate, sharply accentuated rhythm interspersed with “eloquent” rests (“fall silent”). Of the recitatives, the fourth movement stands our through its combination with the chorale melody (oboe). This emphasizes the decisive turning point in the content, from consciousness of sin to comfort, thus also forming the central axis of the work and dividing it up symmetrically. A simple chorale setting, cast in the usual form, brings the cantata to a close.
“Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden” (Abide with us: for it is toward evening) (BWV 6), was written for the 2nd April 1725, thus in close proximity in time to Cantata No. 1, shortly after the conclusion of the chorale cantata series. The unknown librettist, unfortunately more of a moralizer than poetically gifted, takes the words of the opening chorus from the Gospel reading for Easter Monday (Luke 24, 13-35) and, following a manifold tradition, translates the plea of the disciples on their way to Emmaus into the general experience of faith: without Jesus, the light of the world, Man lives in the darkness of remoteness from God.
The opening movement is one of the most impressive achievements of the mature Bach. Its centre is formed by a fugal section; the outer sections are mainly chordal in structure, with the groups of performers (oboes, strings, singers) alternately taking prominence, at the same time with unusually expressive, imploring musical gestures. The following aria with obligato oboe da caccia also strongly emphasizes the expressive element, and is full of harmonic boldness in its depiction of encroaching darkness. A chorale movement sung by the soprano to virtuoso figuration by the violoncello piccolo (an over-dimensioned viola tuned to a lower pitch) lets the congregation join in the plea of the disciples as it were. A short, sermon-like recitative, a further aria, now with full strings accompaniment, and a simple final chorale form the second part of the cantata which, however, should follow on immediately in performance.
“Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" (Christ our Lord came to the Jordan) (BWV 7), composed for the 24th June 1724, immediately follows Cantata No. 2 as the third chorale cantata of Year II. It emphasizes the cyclical cohesion of the year's series through now placing the hymn melody in the tenor, and through a deliberate change in the technique of writing used in the opening movement: after the overture (BWV 20) and the motet (BWV 2), the concertante principle now comes into its own. since the chorale is embedded, line by line, in a quasi-violin concerto.
The basis of Bach's composition is Martin Luther's baptismal hymn (1541), whose outer verses, 1 and 7, are retained word for word, each of the inner verses being paraphrased into an aria or recitative movement. The three arias present themselves with steadily increasing instrumentation: continuo writing (2nd movement) - quartet writing with two violins originally tutti, in later performances solo (4th movement) - string writing reinforced by oboes (6th movement). Of these the sixth movement follows the unusual pattern of the 'cavata': concertante virtuosity retires into the background in favour of a song-like structure similar to the arioso. Of the two recicatives the first (3rd movement), a simple 'secco’, has more of a connecting function whereas the second (5th movement) is given more significance of its own through string accompaniment and transition to arioso on the words of the command to baptise ("Go forth into all the world..."). The work closes with a simple chorale setting.
"Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben" (Dearest God, when will I die) (BWV 8), a chorale cantata on the five-verse hymn by Caspar Neumann, was written in the Year II series for the 24th September 1724. The unknown librettist has retained the first and last verses as they stand and paraphrased the inner verses into the second to fifth movements. As in most textes for the sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, the Gospel reading about the raising up of the young man in Nain (Luke 7, 11-17) is understood as a question of one's own death, and at the same time as a guarantee of the comforting certainty that Jesus will one day reawaken us too ("Mich rufet mein Jesus, wer sollte nicht gehn" - My Jesus calls me, who should not go).
Bach transposed the cantata into D major for another later performance; yet it is only the original E major version that has gained a place in our performing practice. The opening chorus lends expression to the question of the hymn in a striking manner: in the instrumental writing, with its own thematic material, two oboes d'amore dominate, while plucked strings and - in the highest register - a flute imitate the tolling of the funeral bells. The choir sings the chorale line by line into the instrumental texture; the melody (soprano + horn), composed as a funeral hymn in 1695 by Daniel Vetter, organist at St. Nichola's Leipzig, sounds quite "modern" in its expressiveness compared with most of the other hymns chosen for the chorale cantatas. The two arias have been conceived in stark contrast to one another: in the first an oboe d'amore depiets the frightened agitation of Man in view of death; the second is in full string writing with concertante flute and the gay dance thythm of a gigue. From the formal point of view the recitatives have mainly a connecting function, though the first has a string accompaniment. Bach has adopted the final chorale, even though with substantial modifications, as set by its composer Daniel Vetter, both in its melody and in its harmonization.