Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123

History, hymn and words#

Bach wrote the chorale cantata in his second year in Leipzig to conclude a set of Christmas cantatas on the Feast of Epiphany. The prescribed readings for the feast day were taken from the Book of Isaiah, the heathen will convert (), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the Wise Men From the East bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus (). The cantata text is based on the chorale in six stanzas by Ahasverus Fritsch (1679). The hymn is focused on the expectation of Jesus supporting the believer in sufferings on the “journey of the Cross” and the vanities of the world, expressing that hate and rejection cannot harm those who believe. It is among the few rather new hymns within Bach’s chorale cantata cycle, influenced by early Pietism. The melody is found in the published in 1698. In the format of the chorale cantata cycle, an unknown poet retained the first and the last stanza, and paraphrased the inner stanzas to a sequence of as many recitatives and arias. The text has no specific reference to the readings, but mentions the term (name of Jesus), reminiscent of the naming of Jesus celebrated on 1 January. The poet inserts "" (salvation and light) as a likely reference to the Epiphany, and alludes to Christmas by "" (Jesus who came into flesh). Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performed of the cantata on 6 January 1725.

Structure and scoring#

Bach structured in six movements. Both the text and the tune of the hymn are retained in the outer movements, a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two traversos (Ft), two oboes d’amore (Oa), two violin parts (Vl), a viola part, and basso continuo. The duration is given as 22 minutes. In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr’s standard work . The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Movements#

John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000 performing the cantatas for Epiphany at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, described the two works for the occasion, , and as “two of Bach’s most striking Leipzig cantatas”.

1#

In the opening chorus, "" (Dearest Emmanuel, ruler of the righteous, You, salvation of my soul, come, come soon), Bach uses the beginning of the chorale melody as an instrumental motif, first in a long introduction, then as a counterpoint to the voices. The instruments, paired transversos, oboes and violins, play the material alternately. The soprano sings the cantus firmus in long notes. The lower voices are set mostly in homophony, which is unusual in the chorale cantata cycle. Two exceptions intensify certain passages; the call "" (come soon) is rendered by many calls in the lower voices, and the text of the final line is first sung by the bass to the melody of the first line, which alto and tenor then imitate while the soprano sings the text to the chorale melody of the last line, achieving a connection of beginning and end of the movement. The prominent woodwinds, two flutes and two oboes d’amore, and the time create a pastoral mood. Albert Schweitzer said of this chorus that the cantata Liebster Immanuel “is one of those that one cannot forget, so simple are the harmonies and indefinable their charm.

2#

A secco recitative for alto expresses "” (The heavenly sweetness, the joy of the chosen already fills my heart and breast on earth when I recite the name of Jesus). The voice narrates with emotion, for example in a rising tritone ro express the word "" (pain).

3#

The tenor aria, "" (Even the harsh journey of the Cross and the bitter meal of tears does not frighten me), is accompanied by two oboes d’amore. It is focused on "" (harsh journey of the Cross), illustrated by a chromatic ritornello of four measures in constant modulation. When the ritornello appears again at the end of the first section, it is calmer in the melodies, with the chromatic theme in the continuo, perhaps because the singer claims he is not frightened. In the middle section, thunderstorms are pictured “allegro” in “rapid vocal passages”, which calm to “adagio” on "" (salvation and light); this reference to the Epiphany is rendered more prominently by musical means than in the text.

4#

A bass secco recitative expresses "" (No fiend of hell can devour me, the wailing conscience falls silent). Bach illustrates the beginning line by “a ninth descending in third intervals”, and in contrast the imagined victory in “a major scale descending in octaves”.

5#

The bass aria, "" (O world, with disdain leave me alone in troubled solitude), features a flauto traverso as obbligato instrument. The phrase about “troubled solitude” is illustrated by “harmonic twists”. Gardiner described it as “one of the loneliest arias Bach ever wrote”. The voice is only accompanied by a single flute and a “staccato” continuo. Gardiner described the vocal line as “fragile” and “bleak in its isolation”, and compared the sound of the flute to “some consoling guardian angel”.

6#

The cantata is closed by an unusual four-part chorale, "" (Therefore, be gone always, you vanities, you, Jesus, you are mine, and I am yours). The Abgesang of the bar form is unusually repeated, the repeat marked . The reason is likely the text which ends "" (until one day I am laid in the grave). Dürr noted similar soft endings also in Bach’s early cantatas , and , but also in 1725 in . \header tagline = ##f \paper paper-width = 230\mm \layout indent = 0 \context \Score \remove “Bar_number_engraver” \context \Voice \remove “Dynamic_engraver” global = \key d \major \time 3/2 soprano = \new Voice = “sopvoice” \relative c \global \voiceOne \set Staff.midiPanPosition = -0.5 \set midiInstrument = “violin” \repeat volta 2 d2 d d cis2. b4 a2\fermata b g fis4 (e) e1 d2\fermata a'2 a fis b2. cis4 d2\fermata d,4 (e) e2. fis4 fis1. % \key b \minor % (cosmetic) \repeat volta 2 fis2^“La seconda volta piano” fis g a fis1\fermata b2 ais b cis fis,1\fermata d'2 cis b ais2. fis4 b2 cis4 (d) ais2. b4 b1.\fermata \pp \bar “: .” alto = \new Voice \relative c’ \global \voiceTwo \set Staff.midiPanPosition = 0.5 \set midiInstrument = “violin” \repeat volta 2 fis2\ppp fis eis4 (fis) gis2 eis fis g! e! d d (cis) a d2 e d d g fis fis e4 (d) cis (b) cis1. \repeat volta 2 d2 d d e d1 fis2 e fis fis ais1 fis2 g e fis2. fis4 fis2 g fis fis fis1.\pppp \bar “: .” tenor = \new Voice \relative c’ \global \voiceThree \clef bass \set Staff.midiPanPosition = -1 \set midiInstrument = “cello” \repeat volta 2 b2 b b4 (a) gis2 cis cis d e4 (a,) a2 a2. (g4) fis2 a2 a a g4 (a) b2 b b b e ais,1. \repeat volta 2 b2 b b a! a1 b2 cis d ais cis1 b2 ais b cis2. cis4 b2 e4 (d) cis2 cis dis1.\pp \bar “: .” bass = \new Voice \relative c \global \voiceFour \set Staff.midiPanPosition = 1 \set midiInstrument = “cello” \repeat volta 2 b2 b'4 (a) gis (fis) eis2 cis fis b,2 cis d a’ (a,) d fis2 cis d g e b a g g’ fis1. \repeat volta 2 b,2 d e cis d1 d2 cis b fis’ fis1 b2 e, g fis e d e fis fis, b1.\pp \bar “: .” verse = \new Lyrics = “firstVerse” \lyricsto “sopvoice” > Mein gan – zes Le – ben sei dir er – ge – ben, Bis man mich ein – sten legt ins Grab hin – ein. \score \new ChoirStaff > \new Staff > » \layout \score \midi \tempo 2=90 \context \Score midiChannelMapping = #‘instrument \context \Staff \remove “Staff_performer” \context \Voice \consists “Staff_performer” \unfoldRepeats >

Publication#

The cantata was first published in 1878 in the first complete edition of Bach’s work, the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe. The volume in question was edited by Alfred Dörffel. In the Neue Bach-Ausgabe it was published in 1975, edited by Marianne Helms.

Recordings#

A list of recordings is provided on the Bach Cantatas website. Vocal groups with one voice per part (OVPP) and instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked by green background.

External links#

• “BWV 123 Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, English translation, University of Vermont
• “BWV 123 Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, text, scoring, University of Alberta
• “Chapter 33 BWV 123 Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen / Adored Emannuel, Prince of the Faithful”, listener and student guide by Julian Mincham, 2010