Part 4 The Circumcision and Naming of Jesus
36. Chorus
In this fourth part the emphasis changes. The music and words are now directed at giving praise to Jesus rather than to God. This opening chorus is taken directly from Cantata 213, where it appears with different words under the title Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns wachen – Let us Provide, Let us Keep Watch. The music now moves to F Major – the relative key of the tonic minor (D minor) of Part 3. Yet again the section opens with a fast triple time chorus. A new instrumental sound, that of a pair of French horns, colours the opening chorus. As befits the subject of Jesus' naming, and the ceremony of circumcision, this opening chorus has a more formal air of courtly celebration than the corresponding choruses which open parts 1 and 3, being less concerned with the giving of praise, and more attendant on the time-honoured ritual which is to follow. The music for the choir is largely homophonic and comes in blocks, separated by instrumental ritornelli. The transition of keys from no. 35 (F# minor) to the new tonality of Part 4 (F major – to accommodate the Horns in F) is clumsy and unmusical when the third and fourth parts are performed sequentially. We should remember that when this was conceived, there were five whole days between the performance of no 35 and no 36.
| Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben vor des Höchsten Gnadenthron! Gottes Sohn will der Erden Heiland und Erlöser werden, Gottes Sohn dämpft der Feinde Wut und Toben; Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben vor des Höchsten Gnadenthron! |
Fall down with thanks, fall down with praise before God’s throne of grace! God’s son will be the saviour and redeemer of the earth, God’s son subdues the rage and fury of your foes; Fall down with thanks, fall down with praise before God’s throne of grace. |
37. Evangelist Text: St Luke 2: v 21
| Und da acht Tage um waren, daß das Kind beschnitten würde, da ward sein Name genennet Jesus, welcher genennet war von dem Engel, ehe denn er im Mutterleibe empfangen ward. | And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. |
38. Recitative with Chorale - Soprano & Bass
This recitative with chorale is the first part of an evolving ternary structure. Number 39, the duet for soprano with an offstage soprano, comes in the middle of two recitatives which have accompanying chorale melodies woven into their texture. The echo aria (39) represents a type of “trope” or insertion between the two soprano/bass ariosi (38 & 40), each of which constitutes a half of a larger movement, the resulting triptych representing a form unique in Bach’s music. This tripartite structure, symbolic of the Holy Trinity, is yet another example of Bach’s concern for musical architecture and symbolism that places his creation of the Christmas Oratorio far beyond the mere opportunistic and haphazard recycling of pre-existing material. (The St John Passion is also full of examples of musical architecture which have deeply symbolic and spiritual meanings.) The words of the soprano and the bass are again surrounded by sustained string chords which move very slowly. The music becomes rather darker during the second of the bass passages, and Bach illustrates some of the key words and phrases (bittern Kreuzes Stamm, Ungemach, Was jagte mir zuletzt der Tod) with diminished chords and unexpected shifts of harmony.
