Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162


Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, 162, in Weimar for the 20th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it in 1715 or 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 the cantata for the 20th Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Ephesians, "walk circumspectly, ... filled with the Spirit", and from the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the great banquet. The cantata text was provided by the court poet Salomon Franck, published in Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer. He refers to the gospel and reflects how essential it is to follow the loving invitation of the Lord. Franck's language is rich in contrasts, such as Seelengift und Himmelsbrot, and of images derived from the Bible, such as "Der Himmel ist sein Thron" after Isaiah 66:1. The closing chorale is the seventh stanza of Johann Rosenmüller's hymn "Alle Menschen müssen sterben".
Bach first performed the cantata on 3 November 1715 or on 25 October 1716. Bach performed the cantata again on 10 October 1723 in his first year in Leipzig in a revised version, including a corno da tirarsi, a baroque wind instrument mentioned only in Bach's music and thought to have been similar to the slide trumpet. Bach's score is lost, and some parts seem to be missing as well.

Scoring and structure

Bach structured the work in six movements. Like other cantatas written during this period in Weimar, it is scored for a small ensemble, four soloists, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of corno da tirarsi, two violins, viola, and basso continuo, including bassoon in movement 1. Only the chorale is set for four voices.
  1. Aria : Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe
  2. Recitative : O großes Hochzeitfest
  3. Aria : Jesu, Brunnquell aller Gnaden
  4. Recitative : Mein Jesu, laß mich nicht
  5. Duet aria : In meinem Gott bin ich erfreut
  6. Chorale: Ach, ich habe schon erblicket

Music

The cantata opens with a bass aria in A minor, accompanied by three instruments in a polyphonic setting, the two violins and the viola. The motif for the first words is present most of the time. The soprano aria seems to lack a part for an obbligato instrument. For the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of the Monteverdi Choir, Robert Levin reconstructed a version for flauto traverso and oboe d'amore. The duet is also accompanied only by the continuo, but seems complete. The melody of the closing chorale is rare elsewhere, but appeared in Weimar not only in this work, but also in a chorale prelude of Johann Gottfried Walther.

Recordings

Die Bach Kantate Vol. 54, Helmuth Rilling, Frankfurter Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Arleen Augér, Alyce Rogers, Kurt Equiluz, Wolfgang Schöne, Hänssler 1976J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 8, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vienna Boys Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien, boy soprano, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Robert Holl, Teldec 1986J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 3, Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Barbara Schlick, Elisabeth von Magnus, Paul Agnew, Klaus Mertens, Antoine Marchand 1995J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 3, Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Yumiko Kurisu, Yoshikazu Mera, Makoto Sakurada, Peter Kooy, BIS 1996Bach Cantatas Vol. 11, John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Magdalena Kožená, Sara Mingardo, Christoph Genz, Peter Harvey, Soli Deo Gloria 2000