Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106

Bach scored the cantata for four vocal parts (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T), and bass (B)) and a chamber ensemble of Baroque instruments: two alto recorders (Fl), two violas da gamba (Vg), basso continuo.[5][7] The duration is given as 23 minutes.[8]

The sections comprising the cantata are traditionally grouped into four movements. The musicologist Carol Traupman-Carr notes: "Although movements are marked by tempo changes, occasionally key changes, meter changes, and double bar lines, Cantata 106 appears to be a continuous work. Bach helps create a more seamless effect by occasionally resolving the cadence of one section at the downbeat of another, thus blurring the beginnings and endings of traditional movements."[9] The keys and tempo markings are taken from the first publication. The keys in the Neue Bach-Ausgabe and other more recent publications start in F major.[6][8][9]

Movements of Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit

Mvmt	No.	Title	Text	Type	Voices	Instr.	Key	Time	Tempo
1		Sonatina				2Fl 2Vg	E♭ major		Molto adagio
2	2a	Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit	anon. Acts 17:28	Chorus	SATB	2Fl 2Vg	E♭ major C minor	3 4	– Allegro Adagio assai
	2b	Ach, Herr, lehre uns bedenken	Psalms 90:12	Arioso	T	2Fl 2Vg	C minor		Lento
	2c	Bestelle dein Haus	Isaiah 38:1	Aria	B	2Fl 2Vg	C minor	3 8	Vivace
	2d	Es ist der alte Bund Ja, komm, Herr Jesu, komm! Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt (instrumental)	Jesus Sirach 14:17 Revelation 22:20 Johann Leon	Chorus & Solo	ATB S	2Fl 2Vg	F minor		Andante
3	3a	In deine Hände befehl ich meinen Geist du hast mich erlöset, Herr, du getreuer Gott.	Luke 23:46 Psalms 31:5	Aria	A	2Vg	B♭ minor
	3b	Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies sein Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin	Luke 23:43 Martin Luther after Nunc dimittis	Arioso & chorale	B A	2Vg	C minor
4		Glorie, Lob, Ehr und Herrlichkeit	Adam Reusner	Chorus	SATB	2Fl 2Vg	E♭ major		– Allegro

In the opening sonatina, marked Molto adagio, two obbligato alto recorders mournfully echo each other over a sonorous background of viola da gambas and continuo.[11]

The first vocal movement combines several aspects of getting ready to die, based mostly on texts from the Old Testament. Bach expresses their ideas in a variety of musical form and scoring. The movement opens (2a) on a text in free poetry, "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit" (God's time is the best of all times).[1] The chorus has no initial tempo marking, but has a fugal section marked Allegro, and the end is Adagio assai.[2]

The thought from Psalm 90 (2b), "Ach, Herr, lehre uns bedenken, daß wir sterben müssen" (Ah, Lord, teach us to consider that we must die)[1] is rendered as an arioso of the tenor, marked Lento. The melodic line is broken by rests of reflection.[2]

The warning to be prepared for death (2c) from Isaiah, "Bestelle dein Haus; denn du wirst sterben" (Put your house in order; for you will die),[1] is performed as an aria by the bass, marked Vivace. Arpeggios of the recorder accompany the voice which has been described as "evocative of the command of God".[2]

Marked Andante, the movement concludes (2d) with the central piece in the symmetrical composition.[2] It presents a contrast: while the lower choral voices recall the Old Covenant, "Es ist der alte Bund: Mensch, du mußt sterben!" (It is the ancient law: human, you must die!),[1] based on Jesus Sirach, the solo soprano turns to accepting death as a union with Jesus, singing three times "Ja, komm, Herr Jesu, komm!" (Yes, come, Lord Jesus!).[1] The personal decision is supported by the instrumental quotation in the recorders of Johann Leon's hymn "Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt" (I have brought my affairs home to God).[1][2] The final call to Jesus closes the movement, leading to a long rest.[2] The musicologist Wendy Heller writes:

Bach allows the confident soprano the final word, one that even silences the continuo; the passage concludes with an ornamented cadential passage in semiquaver triplets that arrives with tentative optimism and a distinct lack of completion ...[6]

The second vocal movement is a similar combination of ideas, now mostly from the New Testament. It quotes twice what Jesus said on the cross according to the Gospel of Luke. The first quotation (3a), "In deine Hände befehl ich meinen Geist" (Into Your hands I commit my spirit),[1] with an added explanation "du hast mich erlöset, Herr, du getreuer Gott" (You have redeemed me, Lord, faithful God),[1] from Psalm 31, is rendered as an alto aria.[2]

The second quotation (3b), "Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies sein" (Today you will be with Me in Paradise),[1] is a bass arioso, supported by Martin Luther's hymn "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin" (With peace and joy I depart),[1] after the Nunc dimittis (also following Luke), sung by the alto as a cantus firmus.[2]

The work concludes with the closing seventh stanza of Adam Reusner's hymn "In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr", "Glorie, Lob, Ehr und Herrlichkeit" (Glory, praise, honor, and majesty),[1] as a choral movement, but not a simple four-part setting. Introduced by an instrumental passage recalling motifs from the Sonatina, the first lines of the hymn are set for four parts.[11] The movement ends in a double fugue on Amen marked Allegro.[2] The musicologist Julian notes that the fugal section became the "major focus of the piece".[11]

The cantata ranks among Bach's most important works.[12] The Bach scholar Alfred Dürr called the cantata "a work of genius such as even great masters seldom achieve... The Actus tragicus belongs to the great musical literature of the world".[13]