BWV 128

' (On Christ's ascension into heaven alone), , is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed it in Leipzig for the Feast of the Ascension and first performed it on 10 May 1725.

It is the fourth of nine cantatas on texts by Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, with whom Bach collaborated at the end of his second cantata cycle. It begins, unlike the previous three, with a chorale fantasia like the chorale cantatas, using the first stanza of a 1636 hymn for Ascension Day by Ernst Sonnemann. For a closing chorale she used the fourth stanza of "" with text by Matthäus Avenarius. The theme of the cantata is the reaction of the believer to the absence of Jesus, including hope to see him again "face to face". Bach scored the cantata for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns, trumpet, two oboes, oboe d'amore, oboe da caccia, strings and basso continuo, in a rich and varied instrumentation.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the feast of the Ascension. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus telling his disciples to preach and baptize, and his Ascension (), and from the Gospel of Mark (). In his second year in Leipzig, Bach had composed chorale cantatas between the first Sunday after Trinity and Palm Sunday, but for Easter returned to cantatas on more varied texts, possibly because he lost his librettist. Nine of his cantatas for the period between Easter and Pentecost are based on texts of Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, including this cantata. Bach later inserted most of them in his third annual cycle, but kept this one and BWV 68 for Pentecost in his second annual cycle, possibly because they both begin with a chorale fantasia like the chorale cantatas, whereas many of the others begin with a bass solo as the .

The poet, who has a tendency to express a personal view, writing in the first person, took the theme of the cantata from the first stanza of 's chorale after (1636): once Jesus ascended to heaven, there is nothing left to keep me on earth, as I am promised to see him "from face to face", a paraphrase of . In the second movement, she alludes to the Transfiguration of Jesus (), while the third movement sees the incomprehensible power of Jesus everywhere, not restricted to a certain location: He will lift me to his right hand, according to , and will judge me right, according to the closing chorale, the fourth stanza of Matthäus Avenarius' "".

Ziegler's text, printed in 1728 in the collection , and the cantata text differ, possibly changed by Bach himself. For example, an aria and recitative are combined to one movement by inserting "" (where my redeemer lives) > as a connection.

Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance of the cantata on 10 May 1725.

Music

Structure and scoring

Bach structured the cantata in five movements, framing solo recitatives and arias with two chorale movements, a chorals fantasia and a closing chorale. While the opening in a chorale fantasia is similar to Bach's chorale cantatas, the middle movements and the closing chorale are independent of the chorale. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a festive Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns (Co), trumpet (Tr), two oboes (Ob), oboe d'amore (Oa), oboe da caccia (Oc), two violins (Vl), viola (Va) and basso continuo. The instrumentation is especially rich and varied; Julian Mincham observes: "As befits its importance, the instrumental forces are relatively large and impressive; two horns, oboes of every kind, strings and continuo and latterly one trumpet".

In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr's standard work ''Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach'', using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.

Movements

1

The opening chorus, "" (On Christ's ascension into heaven alone I base my own ensuing journey), is a chorale fantasia on the melody of the German Gloria "" by Nikolaus Decius is embedded in an orchestral concerto. The cantus firmus is in the soprano in long notes, whereas the lower voices engage in imitation. Bach derived the highly figurative motifs of the instruments from the chorale tune: both a signal played first by the strings and oboes, then the two horns, then a fugue subject. Both motifs contain notes from the first line of the tune in the same order as in the tune, the signal contains the first five notes, the fugue subject all nine notes.

2

The tenor expresses in a recitative the situation of a human dealing with the absence of Jesus and longing to follow him, away from a world experienced as unpleasant: "" (I am ready, come, take me! Here in the world are suffering, fear, and pain;).

3

In an unusual combination of aria and recitativ, the bass voice proclaims: "" (Up, up, with clarion ring proclaim everywhere: my Jesus sits at the right hand!). Only in this movement of the cantata, Bach uses the trumpet, the royal instrument of the Baroque, to symbolize the reign of Jesus. The trumpet appears first in the ritornello, which is repeated by the voice and again with the voice embedded. After a middle section, the first part of the aria is not repeated da capo; instead the added line is set as a recitative accompanied by strings, followed by a repeat of only the ritornello.

4

The following duet of alto and tenor, "" (To fathom his omnipotence no human can discern), is of intimate character. The obbligato instrument is marked "organo" in the score, but the music is written in the oboe part and appears to have been composed for an oboe d'amore. Possibly Bach changed his intentions during the process of composition, or he may have changed the marking later. Max Reger used the movement's ritornello theme for his ''Bach-Variationen'' Op. 81.

5

The cantata is closed by a four-part chorale, "" (Therefore you shall place me at your right hand), sung to a melody by Ahasverus Fritsch also used for “ O Gott, du frommer Gott”. Most instruments play colla parte with the four-part setting of the voices, while the horns play different parts because of their limited range.

Manuscripts and publication

The original manuscript of the cantata was accepted in lieu of £3,650,000 in inheritance tax by the British Government from the estate of Ralph Kohn and allocated to the Bodleian Library in 2024.

The cantata was first published in 1878 in the first complete edition of Bach's work, the ''Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe''. The volume in which the cantata appeared was edited by Alfred Dörffel. In 1960, the cantata was published in the ''Neue Bach-Ausgabe'', the second complete edition of Bach's works, where it was edited by Dürr.

Recordings

The selection is taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas website. Instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked green.

Notes

References

Cited sources

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External links

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Cantata BWV 128 Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein
history, scoring, sources for text and music, translations to various languages, discography, discussion, Bach Cantatas Website


English translation, University of Vermont

BWV 128 Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein
text, scoring, University of Alberta

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein'', BWV 128
Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach
1725 compositions
Ascension of Jesus