Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
Encyclopedia
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her (It is our salvation come here to us), BWV
BWV
The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis is the numbering system identifying compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The prefix BWV, followed by the work's number, is the shorthand identification for Bach's compositions...

 9, is a church cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....

 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. He composed the chorale cantata
Chorale cantata
In music, a chorale cantata is a sacred composition for voices and instruments, principally from the German Baroque era, in which the organizing principle is the words and music to a chorale. Usually a chorale cantata is in multiple movements or parts. Most chorale cantatas were written between...

 in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 for the sixth Sunday after Trinity
Trinity Sunday
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...

 between 1732 and 1735.

History and words

Bach composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity between 1732 and 1735. In 1724, when he composed his second annual cycle of chorale cantatas, he was in Köthen that Sunday, therefore left the text for later completion. The cantata is based on a chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....

 Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her , BWV 9, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the sixth Sunday after Trinity between 1732 and 1735.-History and words:...

 by Paul Speratus
Paul Speratus
Paul Speratus was a Catholic priest who became a Protestant preacher and song-writer. In 1523, he helped Martin Luther to create the First Lutheran hymnal, published in 1524 and called Achtliederbuch.-Early life:...

, which was published in 1524 in the Achtliederbuch, the first Lutheran hymnal
First Lutheran hymnal
The First Lutheran hymnal, published in 1524 as Etlich Cristlich Lider / Lobgesang un Psalm , often also often referred to as the Achtliederbuch , was the first Lutheran hymnal.-History and content:The hymnal was created by Martin Luther and Paul Speratus working in...

. The theme of the chorale is the Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

 creed of salvation from sin by God's grace alone, summarized in the first stanza: "Deeds can never help, ... faith beholds Jesus Christ, ... He has become the Intercessor".

The prescribed readings for the Sunday are from the Epistle to the Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...

, , "By Christ's death we are dead for sin", and from the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

 a passage from the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...

, , about better justice than the justice of merely observing laws and rules. An unknown poet transformed the 14 stanzas of the chorale to seven cantata movements. He dropped the last two stanzas, kept stanza 1 as the first and stanza 12 as the last movement, rephrased stanzas 2–4 to a recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...

 (2), stanzas 5–7 to a recitative (4), stanzas 9–11 to a third recitative (6). Ideas from stanza 8 were made an aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

 (5), and movement 3 is not derived directly from the chorale, but intensifies the conclusion of the first recitative. The three recitatives can be considered a sermon, according among others to Julian Mincham, who comments: "All three speak of God’s Laws; their bestowal, their fulfillment (or lack of it) and our attitudes towards them", and who summarizes: "The three recitatives were clearly planned as a cognate group and encapsulate the fundamental Lutheran creed. The two intervening arias, and finally the chorale, reflect upon and extend their statements."

Bach had used already in 1716 stanza 12 of the chorale to conclude Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155
Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155
Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange , BWV 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:...

, in 1723 both stanza 12 and 11 to conclude the two parts of Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186
Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186
Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht , BWV 186, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was written originally in Weimar in 1716 for Advent, BWV 186a, and expanded in 1723 in Leipzig for the seventh Sunday after Trinity, where it was first performed on 11 July 1723.-Weimar:The cantata is based on a...

, and in 1724 stanza 11 to conclude Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch, BWV 86
Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch, BWV 86
Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch , BWV 86, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for Rogate, the fifth Sunday after Easter, and first performed it on 14 May 1724.-History and words:...

.

Scoring and structure

The cantata is scored for a chamber music ensemble of four soloists, soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

, alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...

, tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

, and bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

, a four-part choir, flauto traverso, oboe d'amore
Oboe d'amore
The oboe d'amore , less commonly oboe d'amour, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, between the oboe itself and the cor...

, two violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

s, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

 and basso continuo.
  1. Coro: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
  2. Recitativo (bass): Gott gab uns ein Gesetz
  3. Aria (tenor): Wir waren schon zu tief gesunken
  4. Recitativo (bass): Doch mußte das Gesetz erfüllet werden
  5. Aria (soprano, alto): Herr, du siehst statt guter Werke
  6. Recitativo (bass): Wenn wir die Sünd aus dem Gesetz erkennen
  7. Chorale: Ob sichs anließ, als wollt er nicht

Music

The opening chorus is a chorale fantasia, the vocal part embedded in a concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

 of the instruments. The cantus firmus
Cantus firmus
In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...

 of the chorale melody
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her , BWV 9, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the sixth Sunday after Trinity between 1732 and 1735.-History and words:...

 is in the soprano in unadorned long notes, while the lower voices engage in imitation. The scoring with the obbligato instruments flute and oboe d'amore in contrast to the strings is unusual, sometimes the first violin takes also part in the concerto.
All three recitatives are sung by the bass as the Vox Christi
Vox Christi
Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a term for the bass voice representing Jesus in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and others. This part appears prominently in Bach's Passions...

, almost like one sermon, which is only deepened by the two arias in between. The recitatives are secco with the only exception of the final line of movement 4, "... und fest um Jesu Arme schlingt" (... embrace the arms of Jesus), which is rendered arioso
Arioso
In classical music, arioso is a style of solo opera singing between recitative and aria. Literally, arioso means airy. The term arose in the 16th century along with the aforementioned styles and monody. It is commonly confused with recitativo accompagnato....

, in "an enlightening major key, a tender vocal phrase and the late semi-quaver continuo line". The tenor aria depicts the "sinking" of "Wir waren schon zu tief gesunken" (We were already too deeply sunk) in downward motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....

s and an irregular rhythm of syncope
Syncope
In phonology, syncope is the loss of one or more sounds from the interior of a word; especially, the loss of an unstressed vowel. It is found bothin Synchronic analysis of languages and Diachronics .-Found synchronically:...

s, observed by Dürr as an image of “a giddy descent into the abyss of sin”. The duet "Herr, du siehst statt guter Werke" (Lord, you see, instead of good works) for soprano and alto is made a quintet of also flute, oboe d'amore and continuo. It is set in intricate canon
Canon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...

ic counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

 in da capo
Da capo
Da Capo is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning . It is often abbreviated D.C. It is a composer or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat, but in larger works D.C...

 form. The closing chorale is set for four parts, but with the lower voices in unusual polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....

.

Recordings

  • J.S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 1, Gustav Leonhardt
    Gustav Leonhardt
    Gustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...

    , King's College Choir, Leonhardt-Consort, soloist of the Regensburger Domspatzen
    Regensburger Domspatzen
    The Regensburger Domspatzen is the official choir for the liturgical music at St Peter's Cathedral in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany...

    , Paul Esswood
    Paul Esswood
    Paul Esswood is an English countertenor. He is best known for his singing in Bach cantatas and the operas of Handel and Monteverdi. Along with his countrymen Alfred Deller and James Bowman, he led the revival of countertenor singing in modern times.Esswood was born in West Bridgford, England. He...

    , Kurt Equiluz
    Kurt Equiluz
    Kurt Equiluz is an Austrian classical tenor in opera and concert, known for recording works of Johann Sebastian Bach with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Helmuth Rilling, a member of the Vienna State Opera as a tenor buffo from 1957 until 1983.- Professional career :Kurt Equiluz was an alto soloist of...

    , Max van Egmond
    Max van Egmond
    Max van Egmond is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Professional career :...

    , Teldec
    Teldec
    The Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group.-History:...

     1972
  • Bach Cantatas Vol. 4 - Sundays after Trinity I, conductor Karl Richter, Münchener Bach-Chor
    Münchener Bach-Chor
    Münchener Bach-Chor is a mixed choir for concert and oratorio in Munich. Performances, international tours and recordings with Karl Richter and the Münchener Bach-Orchester made the choir internationally known.- Heinrich-Schütz-Kreis :...

    , Münchener Bach-Orchester, Edith Mathis
    Edith Mathis
    Edith Mathis is a renowned Swiss soprano and a leading exponent of the works of Mozart. She studied in Lucerne and debuted there in 1956 in The Magic Flute...

    , Julia Hamari
    Julia Hamari
    Julia Hamari, originally Hamari Júlia , is a Hungarian mezzo-soprano and alto singer in opera and concert, appearing internationally. She is an academic voice teacher in Stuttgart.- Professional career :...

    , Peter Schreier
    Peter Schreier
    Peter Schreier is a German tenor and conductor.-Early life:Schreier was born in Meissen, Saxony, and spent his first years in the small village of Gauernitz, near Meissen, where his father was a teacher, cantor and organist...

    , Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
    Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
    Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...

    , Archiv Produktion
    Archiv Produktion
    Archiv Produktion is a subsidiary label of Deutsche Grammophon founded in 1948.The first head of Archiv from 1948–1957, was Fred Hamel, a musicologist who set out the early Archiv releases according to 12 research periods from 1. Gregorian Chant to 12. Mannheim and Vienna...

     1977
  • Die Bach Kantate Vol. 8, Helmuth Rilling
    Helmuth Rilling
    Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...

    , Gächinger Kantorei
    Gächinger Kantorei
    Gächinger Kantorei is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart now and is therefore...

    , Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn
    Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn
    The Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn is one of the renowned German Chamber Orchestras, located in Heilbronn .The Orchestra was founded by Prof...

    , Ulrike Sonntag, Gabriele Schreckenbach
    Gabriele Schreckenbach
    Gabriele Schreckenbach is a German contralto singer in opera and concert and an academic voice teacher.She recorded Bach cantatas with the Gächinger Kantorei and Helmuth Rilling. She recorded choral works of Mozart, his Waisenhausmesse K. 139 and rarely performed pieces, with the RIAS Kammerchor...

    , Adalbert Kraus
    Adalbert Kraus
    Adalbert Kraus is a German tenor in opera and concert, known for singing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Biography :...

    , Wolfgang Schöne
    Wolfgang Schöne
    - Biography :Schöne was born in Bad Gandersheim. He began his studies of voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Naan Pöld in 1964 and moved with him to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg in 1986, achieving his diploma as a concert singer and music teacher in 1969.His...

    , Hänssler
    Hänssler Classic
    Hänssler Classic is a German classical record label based in Holzgerlingen.Friedrich Hänssler Senior founded Musikverlag Hänssler in 1919 to publish church music. Since 1972 Hänssler Classic has also published contemporary and jazz music...

     1984
  • J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 9, 94 & 187, Sigiswald Kuijken
    Sigiswald Kuijken
    Sigiswald Kuijken is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on authentic instruments.-Biography:Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of Brussels between 1964 and 1972 and formed La Petite Bande in 1972...

    , La Petite Bande
    La Petite Bande
    La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in Baroque music played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, and Bach.-History:...

    , Midori Suzuki, Magdalena Kožená
    Magdalena Kožená
    Magdalena Kožená is a Czech mezzo-soprano.In 2003, Kožená was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government...

    , Knut Schoch, Jan van der Crabben
    Jan van der Crabben
    Jan van der Crabben is a Belgian baritone singer.Born in 1964 in Ghent, Belgium, van der Crabben studied music at the Etterbeek Academy under the direction of Aquiles Delle Vigne and subsequently at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels...

    , Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 1999
  • Bach Edition Vol. 14 - Cantatas Vol. 7, conductor Pieter Jan Leusink
    Pieter Jan Leusink
    Pieter Jan Leusink is a Dutch conductor of classical music.He studied organ in Zwolle at the Municipal Conservatory and took conducting lessons from Gottfried van der Horst...

    , Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Marjon Strijk, Sytse Buwalda
    Sytse Buwalda
    Sytse Buwalda is a Dutch counter-tenor.Buwalda studied at the Sweelinck School of Music in Amsterdam and has worked with conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Gustav Leonhardt, Sigiswald Kuijken and Sir David Willcocks...

    , Nico van der Meel, Bas Ramselaar, Brilliant Classics 2000
  • J.S. Bach: Cantatas Trinity Cantatas 4 Ansbach/Haddinton For the 6th Sunday after Trinity For the 7th Sunday after Trinity, John Eliot Gardiner
    John Eliot Gardiner
    Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...

    , Monteverdi Choir
    Monteverdi Choir
    The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the Monteverdi Vespers in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic conviction and extensive repertoire, encompassing music from the early...

    , English Baroque Soloists
    English Baroque Soloists
    The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque period to the Classical period...

    , Joanne Lunn
    Joanne Lunn
    - Professional career :Joanne Lunn studied at Royal College of Music, where she graduated and received the Tagore Gold Medal.Lunn performed in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, Gluck's operas Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, and in Verdi's Falstaff...

    , Michael Chance
    Michael Chance
    Michael Chance CBE is an English countertenor.Chance was born in Penn, Buckinghamshire, into a musical family. After growing up as a chorister he attended Eton College, Berkshire, and later King's College, Cambridge...

    , James Gilchrist
    James Gilchrist (tenor)
    James Gilchrist is a British tenor specialising in recital and oratoria singing. He began his working life as a doctor, turning to a full-time music career in 1996...

    , Stephen Varcoe
    Stephen Varcoe
    Stephen Varcoe is an English classical bass-baritone singer, appearing internationally in opera and concert, known for Baroque and contemporary music and a notable singer of Lieder.- Professional career :...

    , Archiv Produktion
    Archiv Produktion
    Archiv Produktion is a subsidiary label of Deutsche Grammophon founded in 1948.The first head of Archiv from 1948–1957, was Fred Hamel, a musicologist who set out the early Archiv releases according to 12 research periods from 1. Gregorian Chant to 12. Mannheim and Vienna...

     2000
  • J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 20, Ton Koopman
    Ton Koopman
    Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...

    , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
    Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
    The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam.The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in...

    , Sandrine Piau
    Sandrine Piau
    Sandrine Piau is an opera soprano. Trained as a harpist, she studied voice at the Collège Lamartine and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique du Paris....

    , Bogna Bartosz
    Bogna Bartosz
    Bogna Bartosz is a Polish classical mezzo-soprano and alto.- Biography :Bogna Bartosz studied voice at the Academy of Music in Gdansk and graduated with distinction...

    , James Gilchrist
    James Gilchrist (tenor)
    James Gilchrist is a British tenor specialising in recital and oratoria singing. He began his working life as a doctor, turning to a full-time music career in 1996...

    , Klaus Mertens
    Klaus Mertens
    Klaus Mertens is a German bass and bass-baritone singer who is known especially for his interpretation of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Professional career:Klaus Mertens took singing lessons while attending school...

    , Antoine Marchand 2002

External links

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