Occasion Cantate Cantata text anonymous | Movements 6 Bible text John 16:5 | |
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Performed 7 May 1724 (1724-05-07): Leipzig Chorale by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt
by Ämilie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | ||
Wo gehest du hin? ("Where are you heading?", literally: "Where do you go?"), BWV 166, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Cantate, the fourth Sunday after Easter, and first performed it on 7 May 1724.
Contents
History and words
Bach composed the cantata in his first year in Leipzig for the fourth Sunday after Easter, called Cantate. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle of James, "Every good gift comes from the Father of lights" (James 1:17–21), and from the Gospel of John, Jesus announcing the Comforter in his Farewell Discourse (John 16:5–15).
We do not know the identity of the person who was writing Bach's librettos during his first year in Leipzig. The poet, whoever he or she was, begins by posing a question, a quotation from the gospel. The answer to the question is the theme of the cantata, which explores the direction in which life should go. The poet inserted as movement 3 the third stanza of Bartholomäus Ringwaldt's hymn "Herr Jesu Christ, ich weiß gar wohl" (1582) and as the closing chorale the first stanza of Ämilie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt's "Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende" (1688).
Scoring and structure
The cantata in six movements is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir only for the closing chorale, oboe, two violins, viola and basso continuo. The cantus firmus of movement 3 is typically sung by the soprano of the choir.
- Arioso (bass): Wo gehest du hin
- Aria (tenor): Ich will an den Himmel denken
- Chorale (soprano): Ich bitte dich, Herr Jesu Christ
- Recitative (bass): Gleichwie die Regenwasser bald verfließen
- Aria (alto): Man nehme sich in acht
- Chorale: Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende
Music
The question "Where do you go?", comes from a particular context (John 16:5: "but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'"). Bach gives the question on its own to the bass as the vox Christi addressing the listener directly. This simple question is one of the shortest lyrics for a movement in a Bach cantata.
The tenor aria survives in an incomplete form. It was first published completely in the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The soprano sings the cantus firmus of movement 3 on the melody of "Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut" completely unadorned and is accompanied by the violins and viola in unison, "of great vigour and determination, urged on by steady continuo quavers". The last aria, in great contrast, illustrates mostly the word "lacht" (laughs), although the text warns that a fall may come "wenn das Glück lacht" (when fortune winks). The laughter is pictured in "the various oscillating semi-quaver figures in the strings" and in melismas on the word "lacht". The final chorale on the melody of "Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten" is set for four parts.