Johann Sebastian Bach Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen

1 Aria (Soprano)

Dearest Jesus, sore I need Thee,
tell me now, where art Thou gone?
Oh, where?
Wilt Thou be no more beside me?
Wilt Thou now no longer guide me?
Ah, my Lord, rejoice Thou me,
let me joyfully embrace Thee.

2 Recitativo (Basso)

How now is it that ye sought me?
Wist ye not that I must be
about my Father’s bus’ness?

3 Aria (Basso)

Here my Father God abideth,
here is rest for troubled souls.
Here is peace and consolation,
here from Me no separation,
here have I my dwelling place.

4 Recitativo (Soprano, Basso)

Ah, sanclified and mighty God,

1 Aria (Soprano)

Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen,
sage mir, wo find' ich dich?
Wo, wo?
Soll ich dich so bald verlieren,
und nicht ferner bei mir spüren?
Ach, mein Hort, erfreue mich,
lass dich höchst vergnügt umfangen.

2 Recitativo (Basso)

Was ist’s, dass du mich gesuchet?
Weißt du nicht, dass ich sein muss in dem,
das meines Vaters ist?

3 Aria (Basso)

Hier, in meines Vaters Stätte,
find't mich ein betrübter Geist.
Da kannst du mich sicher finden
und dein Herz mit mir verwinden,
weil dies meine Wohnung heißt.

4 Recitativo (Soprano, Basso)

Ach, heiliger und großer Gott!

Foreword of the Edition Carus 31.032

Karin Wollschläger
Translation: David Kosviner

The dialogue cantata Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Dearest Jesus, sore I need Thee) BWV 32 was composed for the 1st Sunday after Epiphany, which was on 13 January 1726, and belongs to the third annual cycle of cantatas.

The Gospel reading (Luke 2:41–52) reports of Mary and Joseph’s search for their twelve-year-old son whom they then find in the temple in Jerusalem. The libretto upon which the cantata is based is taken from Gottgefälliges Kirchen-Opffer (1711) by Georg Christian Lehms (1684– 1717); it takes up the themes of longing, searching and reconciliation in the form of a dialogue between the “Soul” and “Jesus” – an allegory of the devout Christian and the incarnate divine Trinity. Therefore Bach, in the old Vox Christi tradition, logically allocates Jesus to the bass and not, as the Gospel reading about the twelveyear-old Jesus suggests, to the soprano (at Bach’s time, this would have been sung by a boy soprano). Musically logical reasons would also have caused Bach to do this as the Soul is customarily represented by a soprano, and a double allocation of this register would not only complicate the