Oregon Bach Festival Discovery Series BWV 248 Christmas Oratorio Part 6 2002

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What wonderful music! This is Cantata 65 Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen [All they from Sheba shall come], a cantata Bach composed for the Feast of Epiphany, the same day for which the sixth part of the Christmas Oratorio was written. The orchestral introduction of Cantata 65 displays a wonderful instrumentation of two high horns, flutes, two low oboes, and the strings. At the end of the introduction the orchestra plays in unison—everyone comes together to Sheba, and they bring gold, frankincense and myrrh. The text is from the Old Testament prophetic book of Isaiah. Each chorus voice enters separately, but then all join with the orchestra with the text Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen [All they from Sheba shall come].

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This opening chorus is immediately followed by a chorale, an unusual sequence of movements. With this succession, Bach is stating that the prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled. The text describes the Kings coming with their gifts and ends with the word Alleluia. What was prophesied in the Old Testament has become, at Epiphany, a reality.

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Let us examine this beautiful cantata further. A recitative for the bass follows, and the text confirms what Bach was illustrating with the positioning of the two opening movements: Isaiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled; the Kings have come to the manger.

Continuing on, the text now speaks of gold, frankincense and myrrh, the Kings’ gifts to the Newborn Child.

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The recitative which follows continues with the imagery of the gifts, but Bach now takes another train of thought, translating the gold, frankincense, and myrrh of the Kings into a personal offering: the gold of faith, the frankincense of prayers, and the myrrh of patience.

The movement that follows in Cantata 65 is an aria accompanied by the full orchestra. We’ve already discussed the wonderful instrumentation of strings, low oboes, flutes, and high horns.

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Bach uses the instruments to present the gifts to the new born Child. The flutes, the horns, the low oboes, and the strings each have a solo, presenting their own beautiful colors and unique timbres as a gift to the Child.

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Now the solo tenor begins with the aria Nimm mich dir zu eigen hin [I want to offer myself as a present].

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This short examination of Cantata 65 illustrates the importance with which Bach approached his composition of a cantata for the Feast of Epiphany. There is one more cantata written for this day, Cantata 123 Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen [Dearest Emanuel, Lord of the faithful]. This cantata belongs to Bach’s 1724-1725 cycle of chorale cantatas. There is one recitative that has an especially interesting text. It speaks of Himmelssüßigkeit, the sweetness of heaven, and immediately mentions the name of Jesus. Bestowing this name on him is central to the Epiphany celebration.

We will now examine the sixth cantata of the Christmas Oratorio. It is the final cantata, composed for the Feast of Epiphany. Bach continues with the narration of the Christmas story with the account of Herod and the Wise Men. Herod asks the Wise Men where and when the star appeared. He instructs them to go to Bethlehem Ziehet hin und forschet fleißig nach dem Kindlein [Go there and search diligently for the Child]. The demanding and imperious personality of Herod is evident in the recitative.

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Herod is the enemy of the Christ Child, and this is the idea behind the opening chorus. The text says Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben [Lord, when the roaring enemies are up against me]. The movement is for the full chorus and orchestra, and is clearly dominated by the first trumpet. As you know the trumpet is Bach’s “king” instrument, representing victory and triumph. So when the text says roaring enemies of the faith and Bach accompanies it with a trumpet, he is pronouncing that the victory in this struggle is already won.

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There is a long introduction by the orchestra and then the chorus comes in with the same theme. The motive is an energetic whirl that depicts the roaring of the enemies.

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During this first long movement, there is a section where the music becomes relaxed and dance like nach deiner Macht und Hülfe sehn [but with Thy help and might]. The carefree section goes on for sometime, but then the trumpet returns and reaffirms the victory that has been won through the birth of this Child.

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At this place the brilliant music is interrupted. For a short time we hear the orchestra subdued and piano. The low strings play a trembling rhythm—there is doubt—is the battle really over? But this uncertainty lasts only for three measures, and then the affirming major cadence with the trumpets assures us of the triumph.

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The soprano recitative that follows is a response to the deceiving statement of Herod, who asks the Wise Men to find the babe so he can go to worship him. The soprano says Du Falscher, suche nur den Herrn zu fällen [You false man. You seek our Lord to slay him]. This is a dramatic recitative, accompanied with strings that give emphasis to the changing harmonies.

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The recitative is followed by an aria for the soprano. It starts like a dance movement with a strong, energetic rhythm that is immediately repeated piano.

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The soprano then takes up the rhythm of this dance movement, saying Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen stürzt ohnmächtger Menschen Macht [Simply a gesture of God’s hand will throw down the futile ideas of man]. She sings of Herod, the man who wanted to destroy the Child, sitting on a high throne and being thrown down to ruin. After he is cast off from high range to low range, there is laughter at his fall, verlacht.

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The narration of the Kings coming from the East to worship the Child in the manger was the beginning of Cantata 65. Here in the sixth part of the Christmas Oratorio, that part of the story is not told until the fifth movement of the final cantata. The Three Kings arrive in Bethlehem, and give their treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Child. This is all described by the Evangelist in a recitative.

You remember that in Cantata 65 Bach emphasized the personal aspect—what are my presents to the Child? What can I bring Him? Here in the Christmas Oratorio Bach takes another angle: in a subdued chorale the congregation gathers around the manger Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier [I stand here by Thy cradle] and make an offering of themselves.

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I have made the point many times that there is a special quality to all of Bach’s chorale settings in the Christmas Oratorio. In this chorale, the unique feature is the independence of the bass instruments. All other instruments play with the voices of the chorus, but the continuo instruments have an ongoing eighth-note pattern that binds the choral staves together. In the second half of this beautiful and intimate chorale, the congregation’s gifts to the Child are named: heart, senses, spirit, and courage.

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The last recitative of the Christmas Oratorio relates the part of the story in which the Wise Men are warned in a dream not to report back to Herod, but to return to their home country another way. One last time we encounter Bach’s incredible capacity of text interpretation. At the phrase und zogen durch einem andern Weg [they went back another way], the harmonic progression goes in an unexpected and different direction. It is also possible to hear the joyous steps of the Wise Men in the continuo part.

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This is the end of St. Luke’s Christmas story, but the tenor recitative continues. He tells the Wise Men to go, but Jesus will stay now and forever. The recitative is accompanied with two oboes d’amore, the instrument Bach always uses to express intimacy. They first accompany with long notes, underlining the tenor text describing Jesus’ constancy. The oboes soon play quick running notes and joyous sighing motives.

At the end the tenor says Du, Jesu, bist und bleibst mein Freund [You, Jesus, are and will remain my friend]. Again we hear the long sustained notes in the oboes. The text continues und werd ich ängstlich zu dir flehn [When I will cry to you in anguish], and we hear that the sighing motives that were fast are now in a slow motion. 30

The oboes d’amore are now joined by the bassoon for the solo aria. It is an aria full of intensity with a strong rhythm. The text references the opening chorus by repeating the words stolzen Feinde. Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrekken is the text in this movement; Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben is the text in the opening movement. The essence of this final movement is that even though the proud enemies roar, Jesus is near and will stay close by. This is expressed by two fermatas in the oboes.

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The same idea is intensified at the end of this long aria. The instrumental part is the same, but now the tenor sings octave leaps in a show of triumph.

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There is only one piece in all sixty-four movements of the Christmas Oratorio that is written for all four soloists, and it comes now. They join together in expressing the triumph over evil through the birth of the Christ Child. With signal motives they jump upwards, and conclude by saying that all will rest in the triumphant arms of Jesus.

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The full orchestra begins the final movement, and they play music similar to that of the opening movement of this cantata. Again the trumpet is the leading instrument.

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This is a wonderful concerto movement, involving not only the trumpet but also the timpani and tutti orchestra. The congregation, hearing this for the first time, perhaps did not expect that it is a chorale. But as in all of the other five cantatas of the Christmas Oratorio, this final movement is, indeed, a chorale. The choir enters with the text Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen [Now you are well revenged], and continues to speak of the victory of Christ over death and hell. The chorale that Bach uses is the central chorale of the St. Matthew Passion, O haupt voll Blut und Wunden [O sacred Head, sore wounded]. What a surprising choice for a Christmas Cantata! But Bach changes the harmonies of the Passion chorale from minor to major tonality, and couples it with the virtuosic music of the orchestra.

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So stave-by-stave the chorale moves forward, always surrounded by the concerto music of the orchestra. The chorale ends with the text bei Gott hat seine Stelle das menschliche Geschlecht [God places mankind in His hands]. Bach holds the final chord of the chorus a long time: mankind has a place near God, and will stay there forever.

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