{{Short description|Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{Infobox Bach composition | name = {{lang|de|Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe}} | bwv = 162 | type = Church cantata | image = Schlosskirche Weimar 1660.jpg | caption = The ''Schlosskirche'' in Weimar | occasion = 20th Sunday after Trinity | composed = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1715}}?|location=Weimar}} | movements = 6 | text_poet = Salomon Franck | chorale = by Johann Rosenmüller | scoring = {{hlist | {{abbr|S|soprano}} {{abbr|T|tenor}} {{abbr|B|bass}} soloists | {{abbr|SATB|soprano, alto, tenor and bass}} choir | corno da tirarsi | 2 violins | 2 violas | continuo }} }} Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata '''{{lang|de|Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe}}''' (Ah! I see, now, when I go to the wedding),<ref name="Dellal" /> '''{{abbr|BWV|Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (catalogue of Bach's works)}}{{nbsp}}162''', in Weimar for the 20th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it in 1715 or 1716.
== History and words == On 2 March 1714 Bach was appointed concertmaster of the Weimar court capelle of the co-reigning dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. As concertmaster, he assumed the principal responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the ''{{lang|de|Schlosskirche}}'' (palace church), on a monthly schedule.<ref name="Koster" /> He wrote the cantata for the 20th Sunday after Trinity.<ref name="Braatz" /> The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Ephesians, "walk circumspectly, ... filled with the Spirit" ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Ephesians|chapter=5|verse=15|range=–21}}), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the great banquet ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Matthew|chapter=22|verse=1|range=–14}}). The cantata text was provided by the court poet Salomon Franck, published in ''{{lang|de|Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer}}'' (1715). He refers to the gospel and reflects how essential it is to follow the loving invitation of the Lord. Franck's language is rich in contrasts, such as ''{{lang|de|Seelengift und Himmelsbrot}}'' (poison for the soul and bread of heaven),<ref name="Dellal" /> and of images derived from the Bible, such as "{{lang|de|Der Himmel ist sein Thron|italic=no}}" (Heaven is his throne)<ref name="Dellal" /> after Isaiah 66:1. The closing chorale is the seventh stanza of Johann Rosenmüller's hymn "{{lang|de|Alle Menschen müssen sterben|italic=no}}" (1652).<ref name="chorale melody" />
Bach first performed the cantata on 3 November 1715 (according to the musicologist Alfred Dürr)<ref name="Dürr" /> or on 25 October 1716.<ref name="Braatz" /> Bach performed the cantata again on 10 October 1723 in his first year in Leipzig in a revised version, including a corno da tirarsi, a baroque wind instrument mentioned only in Bach's music and thought to have been similar to the slide trumpet (''tromba da tirarsi''). Bach's score is lost, and some parts seem to be missing as well.<ref name="Dürr" />
== Scoring and structure == Bach structured the work in six movements. Like other cantatas written during this period in Weimar, it is scored for a small ensemble, four soloists, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of corno da tirarsi (likely added in Leipzig), two violins, viola, and basso continuo, including bassoon in movement 1. Only the chorale is set for four voices.<ref name="Dürr" />
# Aria (bass): {{lang|de|Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe|italic=no}} # Recitative (tenor): {{lang|de|O großes Hochzeitfest|italic=no}} # Aria (soprano): {{lang|de|Jesu, Brunnquell aller Gnaden|italic=no}} # Recitative (alto): {{lang|de|Mein Jesu, laß mich nicht|italic=no}} # Duet aria (alto, tenor): {{lang|de|In meinem Gott bin ich erfreut|italic=no}} # Chorale: {{lang|de|Ach, ich habe schon erblicket|italic=no}}
== Music == The cantata opens with a bass aria in A minor, accompanied by three instruments in a polyphonic setting, the two violins and the viola (with the corno). The motif for the first words is present most of the time. The soprano aria seems to lack a part for an obbligato instrument.<ref name="Dürr" /> For the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of the Monteverdi Choir (and John Eliot Gardiner), Robert Levin reconstructed a version for flauto traverso and oboe d'amore.<ref name="Gardiner" /> The duet is also accompanied only by the continuo, but seems complete. The melody of the closing chorale is rare elsewhere, but appeared in Weimar not only in this work, but also in a chorale prelude of Johann Gottfried Walther.<ref name="Dürr" />
== Recordings == * ''Die Bach Kantate Vol. 54'', Helmuth Rilling, Frankfurter Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Arleen Augér, Alyce Rogers, Kurt Equiluz, Wolfgang Schöne, Hänssler 1976 * ''J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 8'', Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vienna Boys Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien, boy soprano, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Robert Holl, Teldec 1986 * ''J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 3'', Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Barbara Schlick, Elisabeth von Magnus, Paul Agnew, Klaus Mertens, Antoine Marchand 1995 * ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 3'', Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Yumiko Kurisu, Yoshikazu Mera, Makoto Sakurada, Peter Kooy, BIS 1996 * ''Bach Cantatas Vol. 11'', John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Magdalena Kožená, Sara Mingardo, Christoph Genz, Peter Harvey, Soli Deo Gloria 2000
== References == <references> <ref name="Braatz">{{cite web | last = Braatz | first = Thomas | url = https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/Weimar-Cantatas.htm | title = Bach's Weimar Cantatas | website=Bach Cantatas Website | year = 2005 | access-date = 4 October 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100924091357/http://bach-cantatas.com/Topics/Weimar-Cantatas.htm | archive-date = 24 September 2010 | url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name="Dellal">{{cite web | last = Dellal | first = Pamela | author-link = Pamela Dellal | url = https://www.emmanuelmusic.org/bach-translations/bwv-162 | title = BWV 162 – "Cantata BWV 162 Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe | publisher = Emmanuel Music | access-date = 7 September 2022 }}</ref>
<ref name="Dürr">{{cite book | last = Dürr | first = Alfred | author-link = Alfred Dürr | title = Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach | year = 1971 | publisher = Bärenreiter-Verlag | oclc = 523584 | volume = 1 | language = de }}</ref>
<ref name="Gardiner">{{Cite AV media notes | last = Gardiner | first = John Eliot | author-link = John Eliot Gardiner | url = https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_SDG168 | title = Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 38, 49, 98, 109, 162, 180 & 188 | publisher = Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website) | year = 2006 | access-date = 13 October 2018 }}</ref>
<ref name="Koster">{{cite web | last = Koster | first = Jan | url = http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/weimar2.html | title = Weimar 1708–1717 | publisher = let.rug.nl | access-date = 16 December 2011 | archive-date = 28 March 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140328175204/http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/bach/weimar2.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name="chorale melody">{{cite web | url = https://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Jesu-der-du-meine-Seele.htm | title = Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Alle Menschen müssen sterben | website=Bach Cantatas Website | year = 2008 | access-date = 28 October 2012 }}</ref> </references>
== Sources == * [https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-162/ Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162]: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information) * {{IMSLP2|work=Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)|cname=Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162}} * [https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000197?lang=en Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe BWV 162; BC A 148 / Sacred cantata (20th Sunday after Trinity)] Bach Digital * [https://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV162.htm Cantata BWV 162 Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe]: history, scoring, sources for text and music, translations to various languages, discography, discussion, Bach Cantatas Website * [https://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV162.html BWV 162 Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162]: English translation, University of Vermont * [https://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/162.html Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe]: text, scoring, University of Alberta {{in lang|de}} * [https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-22-bwv-162 Chapter 22 BWV 162 Ach, ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe / Ah, I see as I proceed to the marriage.] Julian Mincham, 2010 * Luke Dahn: [https://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0162_6.htm BWV 162.6] bach-chorales.com
{{Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{Bach cantatas}}
{{authority control}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe'', BWV 162}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ach Ich Sehe Itzt Da Ich Zur Hochzeit Gehe Bwv 162}} Category:Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Category:1715 compositions Category:1716 compositions