Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende, BWV 90


composed the church cantata Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende, 90, in Leipzig for the 25th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 14 November 1723.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata in his first year in Leipzig for the 25th Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, the coming of the Lord, and from the Gospel of Matthew, the Tribulation. The closing chorale is the seventh stanza of Martin Moller's hymn "Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott", sung to the melody of "Vater unser im Himmelreich".
Bach first performed the cantata on 14 November 1723.

Scoring and structure

The cantata in five movements is scored for three vocal soloists—alto, tenor and bass—a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, trumpet, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
  1. Aria : Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende
  2. Recitative : Des Höchsten Güte wird von Tag zu Tage neu
  3. Aria : So löschet im Eifer der rächende Richter
  4. Recitative : Doch Gottes Auge sieht auf uns
  5. Chorale: Leit uns mit deiner rechten Hand

    Music

The cantata's two arias "paint a dismal picture", as Klaus Hofmann remarks. The opening tenor aria is "expressively highly intense" for both the singer and the violins, illustrating "reißet". John Eliot Gardiner, who calls the cantata "magnificently theatrical and terse", notes: "Bach seems, in fact, to be taking on his entire generation of Italian opera composers and beating them at their own game. The unflagging energy of his melodic invention and rhythmic propulsion is always directed towards giving truthful expression to the text, and here it is as matchless as it is exciting". The following recitative first states in great contrast that "God's goodness is renewed every day", but then reflects "despair at human failings". The second aria, "So löschet im Eifer der rächende Richter" is sung by the bass, with "added emphasis by the presence of the trumpet." The instrument is meant to be the one calling for the Last Judgement, as mentioned in the epistle reading. The last recitative finally turns to the thought that "God's eye looks upon us as the chosen ones". The closing chorale is a four-part setting.

Recordings