Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ

Text No. 1, 6
Jakob Ebert, 1601

Text No. 2–5
Poet unknown

First performance
Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity,
26 November 1724

Set in an unusually shaded key of A major, the introductory chorus presents an agile, concertante-style orchestral framework for what initially appears to be a unambitious movement in which the chorale illuminates the setting’s finer fabric. And yet, the virtuoso foreimitations of chorale lines three and four reveal that the vocal and instrumental parts actually adhere to a fundamental concept: it is the “helper strong in need” that permeates the entire setting with his bold motives. Indeed, the chorale line, surrounded by an accompanying flurry of notes, struggles to assert itself in face of contention “in life as well as death” – key words that Bach musically shades with deft compositional skill.
In the following aria – a trio for alto, oboe d’amore and continuo – the composer employs a novel artistic device. Following the constrained ritornello, the vocalist makes a clear entry, yet can utter no more than two pained exclamations of “Ah!” – the phrase must be completed by the oboe. A more succinct rendering of the text “past all telling is our woe” is difficult to imagine; Bach breaks with musical logic to convey the hopelessness of a situation that is reliant on reassurance from a higher power. At present, however, shame and fear remain all-pervasive, and the vocalist can offer little to counter the “angry judge’s menace” of the chromatic wind cantilena and the oppressive downward pull of the continuo part.
Once again, the chorale offers consolation: the first line appears twice in the figured bass part of the tenor recitative. At the same time, however, this quote also embodies a musical reminder that Jesus, to whom the prayer is directed, is “a prince of peace” who should fulfil his office – the modest gesture thus harbouring a reproachful query.
Nevertheless, it is not a reply from the Saviour that follows, but a deeply humble and introspective movement that declares the unsparing confession of sin as a precondition for peace of the soul: we restless sinners have no right to redemption and support, but must rely on Jesus to bear with the imperfection of his creatures. For this moment of radical selfreflection, Bach conceived a setting in which worldly poverty goes hand in hand with harmonic tension and density. Set as a sparsely accompanied vocal trio for soprano, tenor and bass, the movement opens with a continuo prelude that is compositionally brilliant yet discreet in tone, and whose circling figures broach the setting’s subject with great hesitancy. This caution then gives way to a concerto of repentance marked by large leaps, painful sighs and close imitation, while the emotional middle section bears witness to Jesus’ heartache and compassionate sorrow. In this movement, Bach melds Lutheran mysticism, traditional musical figures, theatrical declamation and compositional artistry to realise a setting of astounding poignancy.
The instruments that had remained silent throughout the trio then transform the alto recitative into an impassioned accompagnato setting whose dissonant chords express the oppression of a whole “alarmed and harried land”. In view of the reiterated plea for peace from the opening verse, the arioso conclusion has the effect of a wondrous, redeeming word, while also foreshadowing the coming Advent and providing a reminder that without the stability of peace, neither state nor “order” can prevail.
After these intense struggles of the repentant soul, the closing chorale offers the consolation of community: when all words and human understanding fail, one can still – as manifested in Bach’s cantata – turn to the chorale and wholeheartedly join in the singing.