Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

composed the

church cantata A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during Christian liturgy. The genre was particularly popular in 18th-century Lutheran Germany, with many composers writing an extensive output: Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel ...

(You Prince of Peace, Lord Jesus Christ), 116, in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

for the 25th Sunday after

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

. He led the first performance on 26 November 1724, concluding the

liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be obse ...

of 1724. The cantata is based upon

Jakob Ebert Jakob Ebert (26 January 1549 – 5 February 1614) was a German theologian and poet. Life Born in Sprottau, Ebert was the son of . He was school director in Soldin, Schwiebus and Grünberg. From 1594 he was on the faculty of the university ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

"". It matches the Sunday's prescribed gospel reading, the

Tribulation In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation () is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end. At , "the Great Tribulation" () is used to indicate the period spoken of by Jesus. u ...

from the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, in a general way. The hymn's first and last

stanzas In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

are retained unchanged in both text and tune: the former is set as a

chorale fantasia Chorale fantasia is a type of large composition based on a chorale melody, both works for Pipe organ, organ, and vocal settings, for example the opening movements of Chorale cantata (Bach), Bach's chorale cantatas, with the chorale melody as a can ...

, the latter as a four-part closing chorale. An unknown

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

paraphrased the inner stanzas as alternating

aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

s and

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...

s. Bach scored the cantata for four vocal soloists (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of

natural horn The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day (French) horn (differentiated by its lack of valves). Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the natural horn evolved as a separation from the tr ...

enforcing the soprano in the hymn tune, two

oboes d'amore The ; (), less commonly (), is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, betw ...

, strings, and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

History and text

Bach wrote the cantata in 1724 for the 25th Sunday after Trinity as part of his second annual cycle, the

chorale cantata cycle Johann Sebastian Bach's chorale cantata cycle is the Cantata cycle (Bach), year-cycle of Church cantata (Bach), church cantatas he started composing in Leipzig from the first Sunday after Trinity Sunday, Trinity in 1724. It followed the cantata cyc ...

. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the

First Epistle to the Thessalonians The First Epistle to the Thessalonians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle, and is addressed to the church in Thessalonica, in modern-day Greece. It is likely among ...

, the coming of the Lord (), and from the

, the

(). The cantata text of an unknown author is based exclusively on

's hymn in seven stanzas (1601). The librettist of Bach's chorale cantata cycle is not known, but Bach scholar

Christoph Wolff Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...

noted that "he must have worked closely with Bach" and named as "the most likely candidate" Andreas Stöbel, a co-rector of the

Thomasschule St. Thomas School, Leipzig (; ) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools in the world. St. Thomas is known for its art, language and m ...

. The first and last

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

in their original wording are the outer

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

, stanzas 2 to 4 were transformed to movements 2 to 4, and stanzas 5 and 6 were rephrased for movement 5. The hymn is in a general way related to the gospel. Bach led the first performance of the cantata on 26 November 1724, which was that year the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The parts show that Bach performed it at least once more but not until after 1740.

Music

Structure and scoring

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. The text and tune of the hymn are retained in the outer choral movements, a

and a four-part closing chorale, which frame a sequence of alternating

s and

s. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (

), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of

(Co) enforcing the soprano in the hymn tune, two

(Oa), two

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s (Vl),

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

(Va) and

. The title page of the autograph score reads: "Dom: 25 post Trinit. / Du Friede Fürst Herr Jesu / Christ ect. / à / 4 Voc: / ~~Tromba~~ / 2 Hautb: d'Amour / 2 Violini / viola / con / Continuo / di / Sign: / J.S.Bach". In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the

Neue Bach-Ausgabe The New Bach Edition (NBE) (; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete Works (''Johann Sebastian ...

. The

keys Key, Keys, The Key or The Keys may refer to: Common uses * Key (cryptography), a piece of information needed to encode or decode a message * Key (instrument), a component of a musical instrument * Key (lock), a device used to operate a lock * ...

and

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s are taken from

Alfred Dürr Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Professional career Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...

, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.

Movements

1

The opening chorus, "" (You Prince of Peace, Lord Jesus Christ), is a

, the soprano singing the

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect trea ...

, supported by the horn. The composer of the tune is not known. It appeared in a hymnal by

Bartholomäus Gesius Bartholomäus Gesius (also: ''Göß'', ''Gese'', – 1613) was a German theologian, church musician, composer and hymn writer. He worked at Schloss Muskau and in Frankfurt (Oder) and is known for choral Passions in German and Latin and for t ...

in 1601, and is similar to " Innsbruck, ich muß dich lassen". The melody is embedded in an orchestral concerto with

ritornello A ritornello (Italian; "little return") is a recurring passage in Renaissance music and Baroque music for orchestra or chorus. Early history The earliest use of the term "ritornello" in music referred to the final lines of a fourteenth-century ...

s and interludes, dominated by the concertante solo violin. The treatment of the lower voices is varied within the movement. In lines 1 and 2 and the final 7 they are set in

homophonic Homophony and Homophonic are from the Greek language, Greek ὁμόφωνος (''homóphōnos''), literally 'same sounding,' from ὁμός (''homós''), "same" and φωνή (''phōnē''), "sound". It may refer to: *Homophones − words with the s ...

block chords. The Bach scholar

Klaus Hofmann Klaus Hofmann (born 20 March 1939) is a German musicologist who is an expert on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Born in Würzburg, Hofmann studied after graduation (1958) from 1958 to 1959 at the University of Erlangen. He then continued his ...

notes that the salutation "Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und wahrer Gott" (You prince of peace, Lord Jesus Christ, true man and true God) thus receives weight. In lines 3 and 4 the lower voices begin in vivid imitation before the entrance of the cantus firmus. In lines 5 and 6 their faster movement contrasts to the melody.

2

The alto

, "" (Alas, the agony is unspeakable), is accompanied by an oboe d'amore as an equal partner, expressing the soul's terror imagining the judgement. Hofmann notes that "Bach has captured the expression of deep sadness in the music with all the tools of his trade: sighing figures, suspensions and augmented, diminished or chromatic melodic intervals: the harmony is full of dissonances."

3

The

for tenor, "" (Yet consider, o Jesus), begins as a secco recitative, but the idea "" (Yet consider, o Jesus, that you are still called a Prince of Peace!), close to the theme of the cantata, is accompanied by a quote of the chorale tune in the continuo.

4

Rare in Bach's cantatas, three voices sing a trio. In the text "" (Ah, we recognize our guilt)", they illustrate the "" (we), confessing and asking forgiveness together. The voices are accompanied only by the continuo.

5

The recitative for alto, "" (Ah, then through the harsh rod), is a prayer for lasting peace, accompanied by the strings and ending as an

arioso In classical music, arioso (; also aria parlante ) is a category of Solo (music), solo vocal piece, usually occurring in an opera or oratorio, falling somewhere between recitative and aria in style. Literally, arioso means ''airy''. The term arose ...

6

The closing chorale, "" (Illumine our minds and hearts as well), is a four-part setting for the choir, horn, oboes and strings.

Recordings

The listing is taken from the selection on the Bach-Cantatas website. Ensembles playing period instruments in

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

s are marked by green background.

References

Sources

*
Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 116; BC A 164 / Chorale cantata (25th Sunday after Trinity)

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 116
English translation,

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

* Luke Dahn
BWV 116.6
bach-chorales.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Friedefurst Herr Jesu Christ Bwv 116 Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach 1724 compositions Chorale cantatas Works based on the Gospel of Matthew