Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn (BWV 157) was written to commission for a memorial service held on February 6, 1727 at Pomßen near Leipzig in honour of Johann Christoph yon Ponickau, a Privy Councillor and Chamberlain at the Saxon court who had died on October 31, 1726. The text is by the poet Picander, alias Christian Friedrich Henrici. Cantata No. 157 has only been preserved in a score and a set of parts copied out by Christian Friedrich Penzel (1737-1801), Cantor of the Leipzig Thomaskirche and subsequently Cantor in Merseburg. The score (circa 1755) and the parts (from the 1760s) were produced independently of one another, and there are major discrepancies between them. Klaus Hofmann of the Johann Sebastian Bach Institute in Göttingen has shown that the original of 1727 did not form the basis of the copied score of 1755, and has published a reconstruction of the conjectural original version (Hanssler-\/elag l984). The cantata is scored for chamber orchestra. The duet for tenor and bass is accompanied by the soft, muted sounds of the flute, oboe d’amore, viola d'amore and continue, which nonetheless produce grandiose chamber music. The tenor aria, too, with oboe d'amore and continuo contains an unusually large amount of instrumental music, and a good deal of space is given to text interpretation in the juxtaposition of voice and instrument ("halte,” “Gewalt/’ "ewig” - clasp, might, evermore). After the expressive accompagnato the bass aria continues the idea musically with recitative and arioso. The chorus for the closing chorale was without doubt composed of just a few voices in l727.
Der Friede sei mit dir (BWV 158) is one of Bach’s unusual cantatas, not least because of its brevity and sequence of movements. Neither the author of the text nor the circumstances of its composition are known, and the cover of the score, which only exists as a copy, names the Third Day of Easter and the feast of Candlemas (the Purification of the Virgin) as the liturgical occasions for which the cantata was intended. Cantata No. 158 probably consists of a number of parts, and only a fragment has survived. Our knowledge of Bach cantatas suggests that a seconcl aria at least is missing before the final chorale. The focal point of the work is the great bass aria with solo violin ”Welt ade! ich bin dei müde," to which the soprano sings the chorale of the same name line-for-line. In its instrumental symbolism and expressive power the writing here is related to the aria "Erbarme dich” from the later St Matthew Passion.
Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem (BWV 159) was probably first composed for Februarz 27, 1729, just a few weeks before the premiere of the St Matthew Passion, even though the text itself belongs to the cantatas Picander wrote in 1728. The work begins with a highly expressive dialogue, in which the devout soul (alto) has an accornpagnato recitative, Jesus (bass) only having an arioso with continuo accompaniment (in the St Matthew Passion the words of Jesus are accompagnato, i.e. accompanied by the orchestra, throughout). The combination of aria and chorale is one of Bach’s creations, and the moving alto aria "Ich folge dir nach” with the verse "Ich will hier bei dir stehen” (to the melody ”O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” - O head full of blood and wounds) inserted line-by-line with the soprano and oboe together is of great beauty. The main theme of the great bass aria "Es ist vollbracht,” the last of Jesus’s seven words on the cross, radiates tranquility and peace in its calmness, like the closing chorale.
(Cantata No. 160 Ich weiß, daß mein Erlöser lebts is by Georg Philipp Telemann.)
Komm, du süße Todesstunde (BWV 161) is based on the parable of the widow's son at Nain and his resurrection. There is poetic scholarship in the Old Testament image of the lion slain by Samson, in whose corpse honey bees have made their nest. As in Actus tragicus, BWV 106 (Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit), the recorders, often scored in parallel, play the ”quiet notes," and the alto aria (No. 1) contains the melody “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” as a solo in the organ part. The trio setting for flutes and continuo expands with the addition of the alto voice and the chorus into elaborate fivepart writing. The melody of the more agitated tenor aria ”Mein Verlangen" is, like that of the first aria, developed from the song melody, without allowing this to be heard too clearly; it strengthens the longing for death as a longing for resurrection. Particular care is taken over text interpretation in the accompagnato recitative: "Schlaf" (Sleep) in descending lines, "auferwecken” (awake) is portrayed with lively movements, "letzter Stundenschlag” (strike the hour) with the tolling of the bell for the dead (first flute) and the peal of bells on the second flute and the strings pizzicato - the unavoidable empty strings of the low stringed instruments are intentional. The Weimar pitch induced Bach to set the flutes in E flat and the rest in C. The chorus ”Wenn es meines Gottes Wille" intensifies the joyful anticipation of death to such a degree that the final chorale is altered in its otherwise subdued expression by the lively counterpoint of the recorders (unisono).
Ach, ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe (BWV 162) was given a repeat performance in Bach's first year in office at Leipzig, with the addition of a part for slide trumpet. This part, which is in fact already present in the string writing, contributes to the musical density of the aria that is developed from the rhetorically inspired motif ”Ach, ich sehe.” A solo instrumental part, probably for violin, is missing in the soprano aria ”Jesu, Brunnquell aller Gnaden,” for it is closely related to the second movement of Cantata No. 158 and similar arias in its expressive and symbolic content. The lack of such a part is also made clear by the fact that, with recitatives, three movernents accompanied by continue alone usually follow each other. Instruments can scarcely be postulated for the rhythmically ostinato bass of the duet, No. 5, and the division of the movement into song-like homophonous sections. The tune of the closing chorale was apparently known in Weimar around 1715, even if nowhere else, for apart from in this cantata it only appears in one other place - in an organ work of Johann Gottfried Walther, city organist in Weimar, and second cousin of Bach.
Nur jedem das Seine (BWV 163) begins with a musical motto in the low strings of the tenor aria (No. l) that then influences the entire movement. As is often the case with cantatas of the Weimar period, the recitative (No. 2) is full of arioso figures for text interpretation. The bass aria with two obbligato cellos and continuo is a rarity, and demonstrates the composerßs delight in experimentation: the busz activity and ”workshop noises" were inspired by the text ”kornrn, arbeite, schmelz und präge” (smelt it, work it, new assay it). The canonic recitative duet that follows is a kind of prelude to the imitatory duet ”Nimm mich mir,” to which the high strings play the chorale "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht" unisono, line-by-line. Thus the title ot the cantata is borne out musically in the unusual forms of the individual movements. Only one figured bass part has survived for the closing chorale, but the text of the chorale is familiar from Franck and the music from Bachßs Cantata No. l99.