Johann Sebastian Bach To thee will I cling, until I am blest

To thee will I cling, until I am blessed!
Lord Jesus, my Saviour, to thee will I cling,
until I am blessed!
Genesis 32:26

Since thou my God and Father art,
thy child will ne’er from thee depart,
not from the Father’s heart.
No virtue is in me from birth,
no comfort have I here on earth.
Erasmus Alber 1557, „Why are you troubled, my heart?“ (Str. 3)

Translation: Margaret Schubert

Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn.
Mein Jesu, ich lasse dich nicht,
du segnest mich denn.
Genesis 32,26

Weil du mein Gott und Vater bist,
dein Kind wirst du verlassen nicht,
du väterliches Herz.
Ich bin ein armer Erdenkloß,
auf Erden weiß ich keinen Trost.
Erasmus Alber 1557, „Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz“ (Str. 3)

Text from the CD Carus 83.298

Uwe Wolf
Translation (abridged): Elizabeth Robinson

The first printed edition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s motets appeared in Leipzig in 1802/03, over fifty years after the composer’s death. This was not only the first edition of the famous motets, but was also the first printed edition of Bach’s vocal works at all since 1708. It differs in some respects from our present-day editions, primarily in the inclusion in the place of the motet Lobet den Herrn of Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, attributed a little later to Johann Christoph Bach. In reprints of the first printed edition, accordingly, this was replaced by Lobet den Herrn, establishing the group of six motets which ultimately found their place in the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalog) as BWV 225–230, where they long held an undisputed position.

But doubts remain about Lobet den Herrn. There is so much which is curious about this motet, which breaks every rule, so that in the form in which it is known to us, it may well not be by Bach. On the other hand, we nevertheless believe that we find so much of Bach in it that hardly any other composer can be contemplated. We