Sunday Bach - Trinity 7

Bach wrote several cantatas for the seventh Sunday after Trinity, and last year we listened to BWV 107. This year I've chosen another gem - BWV 187, Es wartet alles auf dich (Everything waits for you, Leipzig 1726). It expands on the theme of the Gospel reading for the day, Mark 8:1 - 9, which is the story of Jesus feeding the thousands on two fish and five loaves of bread [note: I wrote an essay on that story back in 2000 and posted it here in 2008], with arias based on Psalm 104 and Matthew 6:31 & 32, all on the theme of don't fret, don't worry, God will provide. The music is gentle rather than dramatic, just perfect for such a message. Here's the lated Craig Smith (with later additions and editing by Ryan Turner) of Emmanuel Music:

The cantata Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187, although more widely known as the Mass in g minor, BWV 235 (1738-39) for which the opening chorus and all arias were reused, has never been very well known in its cantata form. Composed in Leipzig in 1726, it is a two-part cantata. The gritty and complex chorus at the beginning is one of his best and most energetic fugues, truly rousing and satisfying. The bass recitative almost overflows with graphic images yet Bach chooses not to paint them, save the question that ends the recitative on a point of non-resolution.  The alto aria is a marvelous portrayal of the wavering believer with its halting and jerky continuity. It is the kind of piece that makes perfect sense with its text and would seem merely eccentric without it.

Bach often differentiates between personal and communal religious expression. Likewise, the two parts of the overall cantata contrast in a similar way. Bach scholar Alfred Dürr noted the change from third to first person in the second part, a shift in emphasis. The great striding bass aria with an obbligato of all of the violins is almost Handelian in its simplicity, but is purely Lutheran in its content. The gorgeous soprano aria with oboe is clearly the musical high point of the cantata. The falling octave in both the oboe and voice line is a perfect picture of God’s forgiveness. The quick middle section is interestingly followed by a repetition of the opening material but without the voice. While the soprano aria is stunning in its conception and musical expression, the essence of the cantata is to be found within the first line of the recitative that follows: “if I can only hold on to Him with a childlike trust.” The cantata ends with a harmonization of the rarely heard chorale, “Singen wir aus Herzensgrund. 

~ Craig Smith with Ryan Turner 

For today's performance we have a wonderful recording from the J.S. Bach Foundation of St. Gallen under the direction of Rudolf Lutz, recorded just last year. Enjoy!

Photo © 2018 by A. Roy Hilbinger