{{Short description|Chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{good article}} {{Infobox Bach composition | name = {{lang|de|Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn}} | bwv = 96 | type = Chorale cantata | composer = J. S. Bach | image = Thomaskirche-1885.png | caption = Thomaskirche, Leipzig | occasion = 18th Sunday after Trinity | performed = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1724|10|08|df=y}}|location=Leipzig}} | movements = 6 | chorale = {{based on|"{{langr|de|Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn}}"|Elisabeth Cruciger}} | vocal = {{abbr|SATB|soprano, alto, tenor and bass}} choir and solo | instrumental = {{hlist | horn | flauto traverso | flauto piccolo | 2 oboes | 2 violins | viola | continuo }} }} Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata '''{{lang|de|Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn}}''' (Lord Christ, the only Son of God),<ref name="Dellal" /> '''{{abbr|BWV|Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (catalogue of Bach's works)}}{{nbsp}}96''', in Leipzig for the 18th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 8 October 1724. The chorale cantata, part of Bach's second annual cycle, is based on the hymn in five stanzas "{{lang|de|Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn}}" by Elisabeth Cruciger, published in {{lang|de|Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn}} in 1524.
The hymn, related to mysticism and comparing Jesus to the Morning star, matches two aspects of the prescribed gospel for the Sunday, the Great Commandment and a theological dispute about the term "Son of David". An unknown poet kept the first and last stanza for the first and last movement of the cantata, and paraphrased the inner stanzas as four movements, alternating recitative and aria. Bach set the first stanza as a chorale fantasia with the cantus firmus in the alto, adding sparkle by a "dancing" soprano and the illumination of a sopranino, which he used for the first time in his cantatas. In the four inner movements, all four vocal parts have their solo. A tenor aria is accompanied by an obbligato transverse flute, a part written for a virtuoso player. A bass aria is accompanied by an oboe and strings, acting as in a Venetian concerto. The cantata is closed with a simple four-part setting of the hymn tune. Bach performed the cantata again in later years, with minor changes to the scoring. {{TOC limit|3}}
== History and text == Bach wrote the cantata in 1724 for the 18th Sunday after Trinity as part of his second annual cycle of mostly chorale cantatas. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul's thanks for grace of God in Ephesus ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 Corinthians|chapter=1|verse=4|range=–8}}), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the Great Commandment ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Matthew|chapter=22|verse=34|range=–46}}), also mentioning that the byname "Son of David" was discussed in a "theological dispute" of Jesus and the pharisees.<ref name="Gardiner" /><ref name="Hofmann" />
The cantata text of an unknown author is based exclusively on the hymn "{{langr|de|Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn}}" in five stanzas by Elisabeth Cruciger (1524).<ref name="Schulze"/><ref name="Gardiner" /><ref name="chorale melody" /> The hymn is based on a Latin Christmas hymn, "Corde natus ex parentis", by Aurelius Prudentius. It is the first hymn by a Lutheran reformer which continues late medieval mysticism.<ref name="chorale melody" /> Martin Luther appreciated the hymn so much that he placed it at the beginning of an early hymnal,<ref name="Gardiner" /> {{lang|de|Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn}}.<ref name="chorale melody" /> The chorale was originally associated with Epiphany, but also with the 18th Sunday after Trinity.<ref name="Dürr" />
The hymn's first and last stanza in their original wording became the outer movements, as usual in Bach's chorale cantatas.<ref name="Hofmann" /> The unknown librettist paraphrased stanzas 2 and 3 to the cantata's respective movements, and stanza 4 to movements 4 and 5. The Gospel asks how Jesus, of David's descent as said in {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=2 Samuel|chapter=7|verse=}}, can also be David's Lord, as claimed in {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Psalms|chapter=110|verse=1}}. The hymn tries to answer this question, comparing Jesus to the Morning star, an image also used in the hymn "{{lang|de|Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern}}", the base for Bach's cantata {{lang|de|''Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern'', BWV 1 |italic=unset}}.<ref name="Dürr" />
Bach performed the cantata at least three times, first on 8 October 1724, a second time probably on 24 October 1734 when the sopranino was replaced by a violino piccolo,<ref name="Hofmann" /> and a third time probably on 1 October 1740. The Bach scholar Christoph Wolff suggested performances in 1744/47,<ref name="Wolff" /> Klaus Hofmann in 1747, when the corno part was given to a trombone.<ref name="Hofmann" />
== Music == === Structure and scoring === Bach structured the cantata in six movements, framing alternating recitatives and arias by an opening chorale fantasia and a closing four-part chorale.<ref name="Wolff" /> He scored it for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir, and an ensemble of Baroque instruments: horn (Co) or (later) trombone to enforce the hymn tune, flauto traverso (Ft), flauto piccolo (Fp) or (later) violino piccolo, two oboes (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), cello (Vc), and basso continuo.<ref name="Bischof" /> The title page of the autograph score reads: "Concerto. / Dominica 18. post. Trinit: / Herr Christ der einge Gottes Sohn etc. / a / Traversiere / 2 Hautbois / 2 Violini / Viola / Canto / Alto / Tenore / Basso / e / Continuo. / d. J.S. Bach".<ref name="Grob" />
In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4).<ref name="Dürr" /> The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
{{Classical movement header | show_text_source = yes | work = {{lang|de|Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn}} | instruments1 = Winds | instruments2 = Strings }}
{{Classical movement row | number = 1 | title = {{langr|de|Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn}} | text_source = Cruciger | type = Chorale fantasia | vocal = SATB | instruments1 = Co Fp 2Ob | instruments2 = 2Vl Va | key = {{nowrap|F major}} | time = 9/8 }} {{Classical movement row | number = 2 | title = {{langr|de|O Wunderkraft der Liebe}} | text_source = anon. | type = Recitative | vocal = A | instruments1 = | instruments2 = | key = | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | number = 3 | title = {{langr|de|Ach, ziehe die Seele mit Seilen der Liebe}} | text_source = anon | type = Aria | vocal = T | instruments1 = Ft | instruments2 = | key = C major | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | number = 4 | title = {{langr|de|Ach, führe mich, o Gott, zum rechten Wege}} | text_source = anon. | type = Recitative | vocal = S | instruments1 = | instruments2 = | key = | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{Classical movement row | number = 5 | title = {{langr|de|Bald zur Rechten, bald zur Linken}} | text_source = anon. | type = Aria | vocal = B | instruments1 = 2Ob | instruments2 = 2Vl Va | key = D minor | time = 3/4 }} {{Classical movement row | number = 6 | title = {{langr|de|Ertöt uns durch dein Güte}} | text_source = Cruciger | type = Chorale | vocal = SATB | instruments1 = Co 2Ob | instruments2 = 2Vl Va | key = F major | time = {{music|common-time}} }} {{End}}
=== Movements ===
==== 1 ==== As in most cantatas of the second cycle, Bach set the opening chorus on the first stanza of the hymn in its original wording, "{{langr|de|Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn}}" (Lord Christ, only Son of God),<ref name="Dellal" /> as chorale fantasia. He assigned the cantus firmus to the alto, enforced by a horn (in later performance replaced by trombone). Bach had used a cantus firmus in the alto already in his chorale cantata {{lang|de|''Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein'', BWV 2 |italic=unset}}, for the second Sunday after Trinity.<ref name="Hofmann" /> In {{Lang|de|Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn}}, this leaves the sopranos free, as the musicologist Julian Mincham notes, "to dance their own hymn of joy in the upper register above the chorale tune, thus lightening the texture and mood of the entire chorus". An unusual flauto piccolo or sopranino recorder is used to illustrate the sparkling of the morning star.<ref name="Arkivmusic" /> Hofmann notes that it was Bach's first use of a sopranino in a cantata, and the first introduction of his Leipzig audience to the instrument which had not been used as a concert instrument. In a later performance (probably 1734) it was replaced by a violino piccolo.<ref name="Hofmann" /> The choral setting is polyphonic in the three other voices and embedded in instrumental music based on similar motifs.<ref name="Mincham" />
==== 2 ==== The first recitative for alto, "{{langr|de|O Wunderkraft der Liebe}}" (O wondrous power of love),<ref name="Dellal" /> is secco, only accompanied by the continuo. It refers to Jesus as descendant of David and son of Mary, reflecting the Virgin birth. John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted in 2000 the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage and performed this cantata in Leipzig's Thomaskirche, notes that the cantata's two recitatives are "exemplary even by Bach's standards in their economy of means and richness of expression.<ref name="Gardiner" /><ref name="Mincham" /> Mincham notes that a "flowing bass line" is heard when one line is quoted from the hymn, referring to "the end of earthly time".<ref name="Mincham" />
==== 3 ==== The tenor aria, "{{langr|de|Ach, ziehe die Seele mit Seilen der Liebe}}" (Ah, draw my soul with skeins of love),<ref name="Dellal" /> is accompanied by the transverse flute, probably played by the flauto piccolo player of the first movement.<ref name="Gardiner" /> As for {{lang|de|''Was frag ich nach der Welt'', BWV 94 |italic=unset}}, written some weeks before, Bach seems to have had an excellent flute player at hand,<ref name="Dürr" /> whom he used in twelve cantatas in the fall of 1724. Some musicologists think that he was Friedrich Gottlieb Wild, a law student.<ref name="Gardiner" />
==== 4 ==== The recitative for soprano, "{{langr|de|Ach, führe mich, o Gott, zum rechten Wege}}" (Ah, lead me, o God, to the right path),<ref name="Dellal" /> is a prayer for God's guidance.<ref name="Gardiner" />
==== 5 ==== The bass aria illustrates the words "{{langr|de|Bald zur Rechten, bald zur Linken lenkte sich mein verirrter Schritt}}" (Soon to the right, soon to the left my erring steps leaned)<ref name="Dellal" /> in jagged motifs and a frequent switch between winds and strings. In the middle section steady steps picture "{{langr|de|Gehe doch, mein Heiland, mit}}" (Yet go with me, my Savior).<ref name="Dellal" /><ref name="Mincham" /> The final part combines both elements.<ref name="Dürr" /> Gardiner notes that Bach uses the winds and strings in concerting choirs (''cori spezzati''), enforced by positioning them on galleries, one of them right, the other left of the singers.<ref name="Gardiner" /><ref name="Wolff" /> The technique had been practised in Venice in the late sixteenth century and introduced in Germany by composers such as Heinrich Schütz who studied in Venice. Gardiner observes also a hint at the style of French opera which Bach may have heard, traveling as a boy in northern Germany, at the Hamburg opera, in Celle or Lüneburg.<ref name="Gardiner" />
==== 6 ==== The closing chorale,"{{langr|de|Ertöt uns durch dein Güte}}" (Kill us through your goodness),<ref name="Dellal" /> is a four-part setting for the choir, horn, oboes and strings playing colla parte with the voices.<ref name="Dürr" />
== Recordings == The entries are taken from the listing on Bach Cantatas Website.<ref name="Oron" /> Instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked green under the header ''<abbr title="Instruments type">Instr.</abbr>''.
{{Cantata discography header|work=''Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn'' |instruments=<abbr title="Instruments type">Instr.</abbr> }}
{{Cantata discography row | id = Rilling | title = {{lang|de|Die Bach Kantate Vol. 52}} | conductor = {{sortname|Helmuth|Rilling}} | choir = Gächinger Kantorei | orchestra = Bach-Collegium Stuttgart | soloists = {{plainlist| * Helen Donath * Marga Höffgen * Adalbert Kraus * Siegmund Nimsgern }} | label = Hänssler | year = {{Start date|1973}} | orchestra_type = }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Richter | title = ''Bach Cantatas Vol. 5 – Sundays after Trinity II'' | conductor = {{sortname|Karl|Richter|Karl Richter (conductor)}} | choir = Münchener Bach-Chor | orchestra = Münchener Bach-Orchester | soloists = {{plainlist| * Edith Mathis * Trudeliese Schmidt * Peter Schreier * Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau }} | label = Archiv Produktion | year = {{Start date|1978}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | title = ''J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 5'' | conductor = {{sortname|Gustav|Leonhardt}} | choir = Tölzer Knabenchor | orchestra = Leonhardt-Consort | soloists = {{plainlist| * Soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor * Paul Esswood * Kurt Equiluz * Philippe Huttenlocher }} | label = Teldec | year = {{Start date|1979}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | title = ''Bach Cantatas Vol. 9: Lund / Leipzig / For the 17th Sunday after Trinity / For the 18th Sunday after Trinity'' | conductor = {{sortname|John Eliot|Gardiner}} | choir = Monteverdi Choir | orchestra = English Baroque Soloists | soloists = {{plainlist| * Katharine Fuge * Nathalie Stutzmann * Christoph Genz * Gotthold Schwarz }} | label = Soli Deo Gloria | year = {{Start date|2000}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Beringer | title = {{lang|de|J.S. Bach: Solokantaten Kreuzstabkantate BWV 56; "Der Friede sei mit dir" BWV 158; "Ich habe genug" BWV 82}} | conductor = {{hs|Beringer, Karl-Friedrich}} {{nowrap|Karl-Friedrich Beringer}} | choir = Windsbacher Knabenchor | orchestra = Consortium Musicum | soloists = {{nowrap|Siegmund Nimsgern}} | label = Baier Records | year = {{Start date|1991}} | orchestra_type = }} {{Cantata discography row | id = Koopman | title = ''J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 13'' | conductor = {{sortname|Ton|Koopman}} | orchestra = Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir | soloists = {{plainlist| * Deborah York * Franziska Gottwald * Paul Agnew * Klaus Mertens }} | label = Antoine Marchand | year = {{Start date|2000}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | title = ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 26'' | conductor = {{sortname|Masaaki|Suzuki}} | orchestra = Bach Collegium Japan | soloists = {{plainlist| * Yukari Nonoshita * {{nowrap|Timothy Kenworthy-Brown}} * Makoto Sakurada * Peter Kooy }} | label = BIS | year = {{Start date|2003}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | title = ''J.S. Bach: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol. 12: "Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz" (Cantatas BWV 138, 27, 47, 96)'' | conductor = {{sortname|Sigiswald Kuijken|}} | orchestra = La Petite Bande | soloists = {{plainlist| * Gerlinde Samann * {{nowrap|Petra Noskaiova}} * Christoph Genz * Jan Van der Crabben }} | label = Accent Label (Germany) | year = {{Start date|2009}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | title = ''Bachkantaten N°20 (BWV 96, 67, 121)'' | conductor = {{sortname|Rudolf Lutz|}} | orchestra = Schola Seconda Pratica | soloists = {{plainlist| * Noemi Sohn * {{nowrap|Jan Borner}} * Julius Pfeifer * Wolf-Matthias Friedrich }} | label = J.S. Bach-Stiftung | year = {{Start date|2011}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{Cantata discography row | title = ''Bach: Cantatas BWV 78, 96, 100, 122, 127, 130, 180 (Cantatas from liturgical year from the annual cycle of cantatas 1724/25)'' | conductor = {{sortname|Christoph Spering|}} | chorus = Chorus Musicus Köln | orchestra = Das Neue Orchester | soloists = {{plainlist| * Hannah Morrison * {{nowrap|Marion Eckstein}} * Daniel Behle * Daniel Ochoa }} | label = Deutsche Harmonia Mundi | year = {{Start date|2021}} | orchestra_type = Period }} {{End}}
== References ==
{{reflist | 25em | refs =
<ref name="Bischof">{{cite web | last = Bischof | first = Walter F. | url = http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/96.html | title = BWV 96 Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn | publisher = University of Alberta | access-date = 4 October 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="Dellal">{{cite web | last = Dellal | first = Pamela | author-link = Pamela Dellal | url = https://www.emmanuelmusic.org/bach-translations/bwv-96 | title = BWV 96 – Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn | publisher = Emmanuel Music | access-date = 24 August 2022 }}</ref>
<ref name="Dürr">{{citation|last1=Dürr |first1=Alfred |last2=Jones|first2= Richard D. P.|author-link=Alfred Dürr |author-link2=Richard D. P. Jones|title=The cantatas of J.S. Bach|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|isbn=0-19-929776-2|pages=567–570}}</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_SDG159 | title = Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 47, 96, 114, 116, 148 & 169 | publisher = Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website) | year = 2009 | access-date = 11 November 2018 }}</ref>
<ref name="Grob">{{cite web | last = Grob | first = Jochen | url = http://www.s-line.de/homepages/bachdiskographie/textkangeist/bwv96textfr%C3%BCherefassung.html | title = BWV 96 / BC 142 | publisher = s-line.de | year = 2014 | language = de | access-date = 4 October 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
<ref name="Hofmann">{{cite web | last = Hofmann | first = Klaus | author-link = Klaus Hofmann | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C26c%5BBIS-CD1401%5D.pdf | title = Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn BWV 96 / LordChrist,the only Son of God | publisher = Bach Cantatas Website | year = 2004 | pages = 7–8 | access-date = 4 October 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="Mincham">{{cite web | last = Mincham | first = Julian | url = https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-19-bwv-96 | title = Chapter 19 BWV 96 Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn / Lord Christ, the one Son of God. | publisher = jsbachcantatas.com | year = 2010 | access-date = 24 August 2022 }}</ref>
<ref name="Oron">{{cite web | last = Oron | first = Aryeh | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV96.htm | title = Cantata BWV 96 Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn | publisher = Bach Cantatas Website | access-date = 3 October 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="Schulze">{{cite web|last=Schulze|first=Hans-Joachim|author-link=Hans-Joachim Schulze |url=https://www.carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien/30/3109600/3109600x.pdf| title =Foreword for ''"Herr Christ, dein einge Gottessohn"'', BWV 96|translator=David Kosviner|year=2006|publisher=Carus Verlag}}</ref>
<ref name="Wolff">{{cite web | last = Wolff | first = Christoph | author-link = Christoph Wolff | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Koopman-C13c%5BAM-3CD%5D.pdf | title = Chorale Cantatas from the cycle of the Leipzig church cantatas, 1724-25 (III) | publisher = Bach Cantatas Website | year = 2000 | pages = 8–9 | access-date = 4 October 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="chorale melody">{{cite web | url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Herr-Christ-einge.htm | title = Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn | publisher = Bach Cantatas Website | year = 2008 | access-date = 5 October 2012 }}</ref>
<ref name="Arkivmusic">{{cite web | url = http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=259829 | title = Herr Christ, der ein'ge Gottessohn (Lord Christ, the only Son of God) | publisher = arkivmusic.com | year = 2010 | access-date = 27 September 2010 | archive-date = 1 April 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120401075015/http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=259829 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
}}
== Sources ==
* {{IMSLP|work=Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn, BWV 96 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)}} * [http://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000121?lang=en Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn BWV 96; BC A 142 / Chorale cantata (18th Sunday after Trinity)] Bach Digital * [http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV96.html BWV 96 Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn] English translation, University of Vermont * Luke Dahn: [http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0096_6.htm BWV 96.6] bach-chorales.com
{{Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach}} {{Bach cantatas}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn'', BWV 96}}
Category:Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Category:1724 compositions Category:Chorale cantatas