Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155


Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange?, 155, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He first performed it in Weimar on the second Sunday after Epiphany, on 19 January 1716.

History and words

On 2 March 1714 Bach was appointed concertmaster of the Weimar court capelle of the co-reigning dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. As concertmaster, he assumed the principal responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the Schlosskirche, on a monthly schedule. He wrote this cantata for the Second Sunday after Epiphany.
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were taken from the Epistle to the Romans, "We have several gifts", and from the Gospel of John, the Marriage at Cana. The cantata text was written by the court poet Salomon Franck and published in 1715 in Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer. He expanded one thought from the gospel: Jesus is still hidden, but the "soul" may trust that he will appear at the right time. The poet uses images of wine to allude to the miracle at the marriage, such as "Der Tränen Maß wird stets voll eingeschenket, der Freuden Wein gebricht". The closing chorale is stanza 12 of "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her" by Speratus.
Bach first performed the cantata on 19 January 1716 in the ducal chapel. He performed it again in a revised version in his first year in Leipzig on 16 January 1724.

Scoring and structure

Similar to other Weimar cantatas, the work is scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir for the chorale only if at all, an obbligato bassoon, two violins, viola, and basso continuo. It is structured in five movements.
  1. Recitative : Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange?
  2. Aria : Du mußt glauben, du mußt hoffen
  3. Recitative : So sei, o Seele, sei zufrieden
  4. Aria : Wirf, mein Herze, wirf dich noch
  5. Chorale: ''Ob sich's anließ, als wollt er nicht''

    Music

The opening recitative, speaking of longing and waiting, expands expressively on a throbbing pedal point of 11 measures, moving only on the words "der Freuden Wein gebricht" mentioning "joy", only to sink back for the final "Mir sinkt fast alle Zuversicht". In the following duet, an unusual obbligato bassoon plays virtuoso figurations in a wide range of two and one half octaves, whereas the voices sing together, for most of the time in homophony. Movement 3 speaks words of consolation. Bach chose the bass as the vox Christi to deliver them, almost as an arioso on the words "Damit sein Gnadenlicht dir desto lieblicher erscheine". In the final aria, lively dotted rhythms in the strings and later in the voice illustrate "Wirf, mein Herze, wirf dich noch in des Höchsten Liebesarme", the rhythms even appear in the continuo several times, while the strings rest on long chords. The tune of an Easter chorale from the 15th century closes the cantata in a four-part setting.

Recordings