Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2

Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein (Oh God, look down from heaven),^[1] BWV 2 is a chorale cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the second Sunday after Trinity in 1724. First performed on 18 June in Leipzig, it is the second cantata of his chorale cantata cycle. The church cantata is based on Martin Luther's 1524 hymn "Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein", a paraphrase of Psalm 12.

In the format of Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the words of the hymn are retained unchanged only in the outer movements, while an unknown contemporary librettist paraphrased the inner stanzas for recitatives and arias. Bach structured the cantata in six movements, setting the chorale tune in a chorale fantasia in the opening movement, and in a four-part setting in the closing movement. The two choral movements frame alternating recitatives and arias of three vocal soloists. Bach also used a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of a choir of trombones, two oboes, strings and continuo. He set the first movement in "archaic" motet style, but the arias in "modern" concertante style, only occasionally reminiscent of the chorale tune.

The cantata was first published in 1851, as No. 2 in the first volume published by the Bach Gesellschaft.

History and words

Bach took office as Thomaskantor, music director in Leipzig, end of May 1723. It was part of his duties to supply music for the Sundays and feast days of the liturgical year at four churches of the town, and he decided to compose new cantatas for these occasions. He began with a cantata for the first Sunday after Trinity in 1723, performed on 30 May, and wrote a series of church cantatas until Trinity of the next year, which became known as his first cantata cycle. The following year, he composed new cantatas for the occasions of the liturgical year, each based on one Lutheran chorale, an effort which became known later as his chorale cantata cycle. He wrote Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein as the second cantata of this cycle, which he began a week before with O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20.^[2]

Bach wrote the cantata for the

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. The first and last are set for choir as a chorale fantasia and a closing chorale. They frame alternating recitatives and arias with the text arranged by the librettist. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble: four trombones (Tb), two oboes (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo (Bc).^[6] The duration of the piece has been stated as 20 minutes.^[7]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the

The instruments are shown separately for winds and strings, while the continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein

No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein	Luther	Chorale fantasia	SATB	4Tb 2Ob	2Vl Va	D minor
2	Sie lehren eitel falsche List	anon.	Recitative	T
3	Tilg, o Gott, die Lehren	anon.	Aria	A		Vl solo	B-flat major	3/4
4	Die Armen sind verstört	anon.	Recitative	B		2Vl Va
5	Durchs Feuer wird das Silber rein	anon.	Aria	T	2Ob	2Vl Va	G minor
6	Das wollst du, Gott, bewahren rein	Luther	Chorale	SATB	4Tr 2Ob	2Vl Va	D minor

Movements

The first and last movements set Luther's original words and the original melody, both dating to 1524 and thus already 200 years old when Bach wrote his cantata. Bach used a style that has been called "archaic": the instruments include a choir of trombones doubling the voices.^[8]

1

In the opening chorale fantasia, "Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein" (Ah God, look down from heaven),

The second movement is a secco recitative, "Sie lehren eitel falsche List, was wider Gott und seine Wahrheit ist" (They teach vain, false deceit, which is opposed to God and His truth),[1] which changes to arioso for two lines that resemble the words of the chorale. These lines are marked adagio, and in them the continuo plays in canon with the voice.^[9]

3

The alto aria, "Tilg, o Gott, die Lehren, so dein Wort verkehren!" (O God, remove the teachings that pervert your word!),^[1] is written in more modern concertante style with a solo violin as the obbligato instrument, playing lively figuration. The last line of the text remains close to the original, and again Bach quotes the chorale tune.^[9]

4

The bass recitative, "Die Armen sind verstört" (The wretched are confused),^[1] is accompanied by the strings. It changes to arioso during the middle section, which lets God respond to the pleas of the sinners: "Ich muss ihr Helfer sein" (I must be their helper).^[8] Even in the outer sections, the string writing enforces a certain rigidity of the rhythm.^[10]

5

The tenor aria, "Durchs Feuer wird das Silber rein, durchs Kreuz das Wort bewährt erfunden." (Through fire, silver is purified, through the cross the Word is verified.),

The closing chorale, "Das wollst du, Gott, bewahren rein für diesem arg'n Geschlechte" (This, God, you would keep pure before this wicked race; ),[1] is a four-part setting, with all instruments reinforcing the voices.^[10]

Manuscripts and publication

The

In the following table, green background indicates an ensemble playing period instruments in historically informed performance. The year is of the recording, then of a release if different.

References