Bach Cantata Notes
BWV 159
All of the Sundays in Lent were without music in Leipzig. Several of
the cantatas composed for Quinquagesima are appropriate to the themes
of the Passion, however. Cantata BWV 159 was written at the same time
as the St. Matthew Passion, and has the same profound tone of that masterpiece.
The opening recitative reverses a scheme that is heard throughout the
passion setting: the soul is accompanied by a string orchestra, Jesus
by continuo. The poignant text about going up to Jerusalem is accompanied
by tortured rising lines in the continuo. The alto aria is a motionless
floating aria, almost Buddhist in its otherworldly stasis. The sopranos
sing a verse of the passion chorale on top of this ethereal aria. The
bass aria with oboe and strings is one of the greatest in all of Bach;
a deeply felt interpretation of the crucifixion that is to come. The
setting of the chorale "Jesu, deine Passion" is almost
unearthly in its calm.
©Craig Smith