Text
Johann Heermann (1585–1647)

First performance
Seventh Sunday after Trinity,
23 July 1724

The mood of the introductory chorus underscores not the deliverance from distress treated in the hymn text, but the element of “sadness”. Set in an elegiac B minor with no continuo support, the movement opens with a hesitant ascending line from the flute and first oboe d’amore. This line is subsequently taken up by other parts, melding into a sighing play of lines among the woodwinds in intense thirds and sixths. That Bach sets a violin obbligato soaring above this burdened opening gives the work a hint of the sublime, thereby calling to mind the helping hand of Emmanuel – “God is with us!” – that is extended to those in greatest need. Given this setting, the choir is free to deliver the hymn unadorned, enfolded and carried by the orchestra.
In the following bass recitative, Bach reconciles the linear form of the hymn with a more recitative-like style through the measured, oboe d’amore accompaniment and an arioso a tempo setting of the closing line “how God will rescue thee”. The four ensuing arias are highly contrasting in their settings: because a da capo form must be eschewed as unworkable with the hymn text, the path has instead been freed for flowing transitions. In addition to Bach’s clever planning of the overall key structure, he marks the cantata with efficient continuo motifs that charge each movement with a distinctive energy. With its full, string ensemble sound and triumphant coloraturas, the bass aria in A major evokes a heroic atmosphere, while the tenor aria, accompanied solely by the continuo and characterised by contrary motion passages treats the theme of the devil and hell. Here, the energetically leaping E minor bass motive does not so much describe an adversarial threat, but a fighting determination to prevail through trust in the promise of heaven. Two oboes d’amore and a buoyant continuo lend the succeeding soprano aria in B minor a pastoral character that centres on the key word “blessedness”. That humankind must, however, bend to God’s will is made abundantly clear in the aria’s more serious B section and the hymn text “For what God wills is done!” By contrast, the tenor seems to virtually float free of all resistance and angst in his second aria (D major), in which the unison setting of two transverse flutes and a muted violin with a pizzicato continuo provide for a strikingly elegant accompaniment.

Through an independent orchestral part in 6⁄8 time, Bach lends the chorale verse a serious, yet animated character that is well-suited for a prayer supplicating for the strength to praise God forevermore – indeed, Bach’s chorale setting effectively removes all sadness from the believers’ hearts.