Bach for Easter - Ascension Day

Today is Ascension Day, commemorating the day when Christ ascended into heaven. Bach wrote several cantatas for this celebration, and I've chosen the earliest, BWV 37, Wer da gläubet und getauft wird (He who believes and is baptised, Leipzig 1724). For a major church festival you would expect Bach to pull out all the stops, full of brass fanfares and grand choral glorias, but this is a surprisingly gentle, almost pastoral, approach to such a major liturgical event. Here's John Harbison of Emmanuel Music on this cantata:

One sentence, from Jesus’ last injunction to the disciples, after his resurrection, before he ascends to heaven, from Mark 16:16, forms the complete text for the opening chorus of this cantata. In his other two cantatas for Ascension Sunday Bach provides Tintoretto-like representations of an impossibly radical action - horns, trumpets and athletic strings are engaged. Here drama is avoided. “Whosoever believes and is baptized shall become blessed”. The concentration is upon belief and baptism.

A single libretto decision determines the character of his piece. The text does not attach Jesus’ next phrase, “and he that believeth not…” and thus the piece is not about the endangered soul (as are many of the cantatas) but about a route to transcendence. Sonority, the glow of A Major, the even flow of unremarkable elements in equilibrium is enough to set this cantata in motion. The oboes state the very elegant and plain principal tune, the violins add a more active motive which quotes the chorale “these are the holy ten commandments”, the basses play a descending scale pattern ending in a cadence, a generic pattern which is conveniently equivalent to the final phrase of the chorale used in the third movement of this cantata. From these ordinary ideas comes a limpid and unburdened music. 

The brief tenor aria celebrates the gift, from Jesus, of faith. Most exceptionally it continues both the key and the character of the chorus, a personal version of the collective statement. It too is warm and devotional, not trying to impress. Unfortunately the violin solo part was lost (from a piece which survived only in parts). There are at least a dozen such situations in the Bach cantatas. It is possible (with varying degrees of difficulty) to replace all of them in an inevitably approximate way which nevertheless preserves continuity and proportion.

At the center of the cantata comes the ‘morning star’ chorale, presented as a vocal duet over an unexpectedly florid cello accompaniment. In the muted frame of the piece as a whole, this is the most eventful, colorful moment. The two singers trade off as leader and follower in a delightful way, and the over-exuberant cello is far more than a commentator.

“Let Jesus deal with good works,” sings the bass in his recitative, “you must make yourself right with God through faith.” At this point in the cantata we wonder whether the baptism theme has been lost, in favor of making the full Lutheran statement about faith, but it reappears most striking at the end of a series of needlessly and brilliantly inventive passages for the singer. Each Noun has a slightly different figurative shape, jagged cursives for the Seal of Grace, upward thrust toward Heaven, at last a very long unwinding stream for Baptism. These lead into a Chorale where for the first time, with suitable restraint, the text and harmony sound a darker tone.

© John Harbison

Today's performance is by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Ton Koopman. Enjoy!

Photo © 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger