Text No. 1
1. Gen. 32:26

Text No. 2–4
Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander

Text No. 5
Christian Keymann (1658)

First performance
Funeral of Johann Christoph von Ponickau,
6 February 1727, Leipzig

Cantata BWV 157 was performed as the first half of the music for a memorial service held on 6 February 1727 for Johann Christoph von Ponickau, a chamberlain who had died a few months earlier. The cantata that followed the sermon, “Liebster Gott, vergißt du mich”, is generally assumed to be lost, and it is entirely possible that Bach was not the composer. Indeed, BWV 157 perhaps survived only because it was later revived, partly with new instrumentation, for the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, work that may have been carried out by Bach’s student Christian Friedrich Penzel. Although the original composition cannot be reconstructed with full certainty, it is without doubt the most significant composition that had ever been performed in the small village church of Pomssen (near Leipzig) with its sonorous, early baroque organ.

Although the dictum of the opening movement is drawn from the parable of Jacob wrestling with God at Jabbok (1. Gen. 32:27), the narrative is presented in connection with Simeon’s patient wait for his redemptive meeting with the new-born Saviour and is thus placed in the context of death. To capture this mood, Bach composed an extremely tender vocal setting that opens with a trio of interweaving lines for three high-register instruments; the funeral-music scoring for viola d’amore, transverse flute and oboe d’amore perhaps sounded very distinctive compared to the more homogeneous instrumentation in the version for the Feast of the Purification. The close imitation and expressive motives of the trio create a sombre framework into which the bass and tenor duo is skilfully integrated. Throughout this touching duet, listeners need not look in the score to know that it is set in the haunting “Erbarme dich” (Lord have mercy) key of B minor.

The next movement of the cantata makes clear that the opening movement is not to be understood as an aria but as a setting of the old testament dictum for the select performance ensemble. As such, the next section is not a recitative but an actual aria whose text of “Ich halte meinen Jesum feste” (I shall hold to my Jesus firmly) may be seen as a personal endorsement of the work’s opening dictum and thus as a confession of faith of the honourable dedicatee, who, by trusting in the salvation of Jesus, may also be seen as a role model in matters of the spirit. The dark sonority of the oboe d’amore, whose muted timbre is created by its pear-shaped bell, is ideally complemented by the soloist’s long notes on the words “Ich halte” (I hold) as well as the cantabile phrases, which retain their noble composure despite the energetic expression of devotion (“mit Gewalt” – “with might”) to Jesus Christ.

In the tenor recitative, the accompanying strings lend the music a vibrant luminosity, making the listener reluctant to concede that this accompagnato development, despite its rather unusual closing phrase, was actually a later addition by Penzel, as Bach Scholar Klaus Hoffmann has suggested. The libretto, whose rich imagery portrays Jesus as a dependable authority in moments of mortal fear and spiritual crisis, is presented by the solo vocalist in a relaxed but elevated style rendering plausible the notion that a joyous relinquishing of life opens up a passage to a greater reality.

The bass soloist then responds with a further aria that resumes the cantata’s overarching trope of “festhalten” (holding firm); following the lamentations of the previous movements, the setting presses forward with unbridled joy. Propelled by a spirited continuo part, the sparkling transverse flute and violin passages evoke a vision of heavenly bliss and underscore the confident tone of the soloist. The two recitative-like passages provide for moments of still contemplation without impeding the believer’s decisive procession to the longed-for goal; in a moving adagio passage, the quavering funeral bells of an idealised “gentle death” accompany the dying believer to the “land so fair” of the eternal wedding feast.

As is fitting for an occasional composition written for an out-of-town performance with a limited number of musicians, the closing chorale is the only movement in which Bach employs a four-voice ensemble. The text of Christian Keymann’s concise hymn verse of 1658 “Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht” (This my Jesus I’ll not leave) forms the perfect complement to a cantata whose libretto revolves around faith unto death and the blessing obtained through overcoming spiritual crises. After the pained B minor of the opening movement, the D major tonality of this chorale sounds as vibrant and clear as the invigorating “Lebensbächlein” (springs of life) described in the hymn.