Johann Sebastian Bach Thou very God and David's Son (3rd version)

Cantata for the Sunday Estomihi BWV 23 (BWV3 23.3), 1723/24

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The cantata Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn (You true God and Son of David) was performed together with BWV 22 on Quinquagesima (the last Sunday before Lent) in 1723 as part of Johann Sebastian Bach’s audition for the position of Thomascantor in Leipzig. Both cantatas were later repeated during his first full annual cycle of cantatas in the city. It is interesting to note the unusual evolution of BWV 23, of which certain details are still unclear. Initially consisting of three movements, the work was probably expanded at short notice to include the magnificent chorale “Christe, du Lamm Gottes”, originally written in 1725 to conclude the second version of the St. John Passion. At the same time, the cantata was transposed down a semitone to B minor. Then, sometime around 1730, Bach composed the final four-movement version published here, now returned to C minor.
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  • 1 Aria. Duetto (Soprano, Alto)

    Thou very God and David‘s son,
    Thou who, ere Adam was,
    or time had yet begun
    forsaw my woes,
    my bitter mortal plight,
    who all my sorrow knows,
    be kind to me!
    Do thou with thy Magician’s hand
    help me all evil to withstand,
    and give me Faith and Hope and Comfort.

    2 Recitativo (Tenore)

    Ah, pass thou not now by me,
    thou who of all mankind hast been the Saviour,
    for thou didst come to heal the sick and not the healthy,
    I pray thee likewise of thy strength give me a share.
    When I with manmade ills am coping,
    and in the dark am blindly groping,
    then may I find thee there.
    Receive thou me, nor leave I thee

    ...
  • 1 Aria. Duetto (Soprano, Alto)

    Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn,
    der du von Ewigkeit in der Entfernung schon
    mein Herzeleid und meine Leibespein
    umständlich angesehn,
    erbarm dich mein!
    Und lass durch deine Wunderhand,
    die so viel Böses abgewandt,
    mir gleichfalls Hülf und Trost geschehen!

    2 Recitativo (Tenore)

    Ach, gehe nicht vorüber,
    du, aller Menschen Heil, bist ja erschienen,
    die Kranken und nicht die Gesunden zu bedienen.
    Drum nehm ich ebenfalls an deiner Allmacht teil;
    ich sehe dich auf diesen Wegen,
    worauf man mich hat wollen legen,
    auch in der Blindheit an.
    Ich fasse mich und lasse dich
    nicht ohne deinen Segen.

    3 Chorus

    ...
  • Postscript of the Edition Carus 31.023/03

    Ulrich Leisinger
    Translation: David Kosviner/John Coombs

    With the cantatas Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn (Thou very God and David’s Son) BWV 23 and Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe (Jesus calling then the Twelve unto him) BWV 22,1 Johann Sebastian Bach applied to become the successor of Johann Kuhnau, the Thomaskantor in Leipzig who had died on 5 June 1722. Comparisons of the texts lead us to the conclusion that Johann Sebastian Bach did not choose the texts of the two pieces submitted, but that the texts had been sent them from Leipzig. The two cantatas also seem to form a pair of works insofar as the unnamed librettist – from whom the texts of at least the cantatas Die Elenden sollen essen (All the starving shall be nourished) BWV 75 and Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes (The heavens are telling of God in glory) BWV 76 may also have originated and with which Bach introduced himself in Leipzig during Trinity in 1723 – only addressed one aspect of the gospel reading in the cantata Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn. The librettist alludes to the healing of a blind person, the account of which is transformed, in an impressive manner, from the sphere of a

    ...
  • Nachwort der Ausgabe Carus 31.023/03

    Ulrich Leisinger

    Mit den Kantaten Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn BWV 23 und Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe BWV 22 bewarb sich Johann Sebastian Bach um die Nachfolge des am 5. Juni 1722 verstorbenen Thomaskantors Johann Kuhnau in Leipzig. Textvergleiche lassen darauf schließen, dass Johann Sebastian Bach die Texte der beiden Probestücke nicht selbst ausgewählt hat, sondern aus Leipzig zugesandt bekam. Die beiden Kantaten scheinen auch insofern geradezu ein Werkpaar zu bilden, dass der namentlich nicht bekannte Dichter – von dem wahrscheinlich wenigstens auch die Texte zu den Kantaten Die Elenden sollen essen BWV 75 und Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes BWV 76 stammen dürften, mit denen sich Bach ab der Trinitatiszeit 1723 in Leipzig einführte – in der Kantate Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn nur auf einen Aspekt der Evangelienlesung eingeht. Der Textdichter spielt auf die Heilung eines Blinden an, die in eindrucksvoller Weise aus der Sphäre eines nüchternen Berichts in die eines Betroffenseins jedes einzelnen umgewandelt wird; die Darstellung von Jesu Weg nach Jerusalem und seine Leidensankündigung bleibt aber dem Text zur Kantate Jesus nahm zu sich die

    ...
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  • Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most important composers of Western music history. He came from a widely ramified musical dynasty, which produced numerous musicians and organists in the Thuringian-Saxon area.

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