Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125

In 1723, Bach was appointed as Thomaskantor (director of church music) in Leipzig. He was employed by the town of Leipzig to this position, which made him responsible for the music at four churches and for the training and education of boys singing in the Thomanerchor. Cantata music had to be provided for two major churches, Thomaskirche (St. Thomas) and Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas), and simpler church music for two others, Neue Kirche (New Church) and Peterskirche (St. Peter).

Bach took office in the middle of the liturgical year, on the first Sunday after Trinity. In Leipzig, cantata music was expected on Sundays and on feast days, except during the "silent periods" ("tempus clausum") of Advent and Lent. In his first twelve months in office, Bach decided to compose new works for almost all liturgical events. These works became known as his first cantata cycle. The following year, he continued that effort, composing a cycle of chorale cantatas, with each cantata based on one Lutheran hymn, including Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, for these occasions.[2][3] The choice of hymns to use in the series of chorale cantatas was probably made according to the wishes of a local minister, who based the choice upon the prescribed readings and his plans for sermons.[3]

Martin Luther, portrait by Lucas Cranach, 1528

In the 16th century Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, emphasised the importance of hymn singing in church services and at home, authoring many hymns, including "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin".[3]

Bach composed an early chorale cantata on a hymn by Luther, Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, probably in 1707. During his chorale cantata cycle, Bach used a hymn by Luther as the basis for a cantata on nine occasions. Additionally, he performed Christ lag in Todes Banden again during that cycle.[4]

The following table shows the cantatas that Bach performed based on hymns by Luther during the chorale cantata cycle, comprising nine new compositions and the repeated performance of the Easter cantata. The first column gives the cantata number with a link to the article about it, and the following column gives the hymn of the same name on which it is based. The third column shows the liturgical occasion, and the fourth the date of the performance, which is the first performance for all but the Easter cantata.

Bach used Luther's hymns in other works during his career. He had included "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" earlier in a cantata for Advent, Alles, was von Gott geboren, BWV 80a, which he reworked as a chorale cantata for Reformation Day (BWV 80).[13] He finally composed Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit, BWV 14, for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany in 1735.[14]

Bach followed a specific structure for most of the cantatas in this cycle. He deviated from using the strophic hymn text and tune in all stanzas (per omnes versus), as he had in Christ lag in Todes Banden. Instead, he retained the original text and melody only in the outer stanzas, typically treating the first as a chorale fantasia and the last as a four-part chorale setting, while the inner stanzas were reworded by a librettist as the basis for recitatives and arias, often with music independent of the hymn tune.[3] Andreas Stübel (1653–1725), a former headmaster of the Thomasschule, may have been this librettist.[3]

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. The first and last are set for choir as a chorale fantasia and a closing chorale. They frame alternating recitatives and arias with the text arranged by the librettist. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble: horn to support the chorale tune sung by the soprano in the outer movements, flauto traverso (Ft), oboe (Ob), oboe d'amore (Oa), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo (Bc).[28][29] The title page of the original parts reads: "Festo Purificat: Mari[ae] / Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin etc. / â / 4 Voc: / Travers: / Hautbois d' Amour / 2 Violini / Viola / con / Continuo / di / Sign: / JS. Bach".[30] The duration of the cantata is given as around 24 minutes.[31]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe.[29] The keys and time signatures are taken from the book by Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4).[32] The instruments are shown separately for winds and strings, while the continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125

No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin	Luther	Chorale fantasia	SATB	Co Ft Ob	2Vl Va	E minor	12 8
2	Ich will auch mit gebrochnen Augen	anon.	Aria	A	Ft Oa		B minor	3 4
3	O Wunder, daß ein Herz Das macht Christus, wahr' Gottes Sohn	anon. Luther	Recitative e chorale	B		2Vl Va
4	Ein unbegreiflich Licht	anon.	Aria (Duetto)	T B		2Vl	G major
5	O unerschöpfter Schatz der Güte	anon.	Recitative	A
6	Er ist das Heil und selig Licht	Luther	Chorale	SATB	Co Ft Ob	2Vl Va	E minor

The first stanza of the chorale in the hymnal Babstsches Gesangbuch of 1545, with an illustration of the Presentation at the temple

The opening chorus, "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin in Gottes Willen" (With peace and joy I depart in God's will),[1] begins with a concertante ritornello, in which the flute and oboe play opposed to the strings. A motif in triplets at the beginning of the movement settles on a note a fifth above where it starts, related to the first interval of the chorale tune.[16][19] The fifth and the triplet motion dominate the entire movement.[24]

The soprano sings the cantus firmus in long notes.[33] Hofmann notes that the Dorian mode within the instrumental concerto in E minor adds a "slightly archaic flavour".[24] The lower voices participate in the instrumental motifs for lines 1, 2, 3 and 5, but lines 4 and 6 are treated differently. In accordance to the text, "sanft und stille" (calm and quiet) and "der Tod ist mein Schlaf worden" (death has become my sleep), they are performed softly (piano), in homophony, chromatic, and modulating to distant keys.[34] Dürr notes the movement's "extremely dense, highly expressive texture"[34] with motifs independent from the hymn tune but derived from its beginning.[34] The Bach scholar Richard D. P. Jones observes that the movement foreshadows Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen, the opening chorus of Bach's St Matthew Passion, in key, 12/8 metre and "much more".[35]

The alto aria, "Ich will auch mit gebrochnen Augen nach dir, mein treuer Heiland, sehn." (Even with broken eyes, I will look for You, my loving Savior.),[1] is a sarabande with slow dotted rhythms.[35] The vocal line is accompanied by the flute and oboe d'amore, on a foundation of repeated notes in the continuo, marked "legato".[25] The phrase "gebrochne Augen" (broken eyes) is pictured by a broken vocal line, with flute and oboe d'amore playing dotted rhythm to the "almost trembling declamation" of the voice.[33] Hofmann notes the movement's "emotions of grief and lamentation",[24] while Dürr writes: "Rich suspension appoggiaturas, and other ornaments, reveal that an expressive interpretation of this movement lay particularly close to the composer's heart."[34]

The bass recitative begins with a thought of the librettist, "O Wunder, daß ein Herz vor der dem Fleisch verhaßten Gruft und gar des Todes Schmerz sich nicht entsetzet!" (O wonder, that a heart before the flesh-abhorred tomb, and even the pain of death does not recoil!).[1] The text continues with the beginning of the hymn's second stanza, "Das macht Christus, wahr' Gottes Sohn, der treue Heiland" (Christ, God's true son, does this, the loving Savior).[1] The pattern of comment and original is retained throughout the movement in a hybrid text that holds in single lines the complete text of the second stanza:

Bach sets the recitative and chorale elements differently, rendering the librettist's text in "rhythmically free diction of recitative"[24] and the chorale as arioso. He unifies the movement by a continuous motif in the strings, called Freudenmotiv by Dürr, which "always indicates an underlying mood of happiness".[24][36] The chorale tune is unadorned but for the last line, "im Tod und auch im Sterben" (in death and also in dying), where the music is extended by two measures and coloured in chromatic and rich ornamentation, and the strings cease to play the constant motif and accompany in "tranquil notes".[34]

The tenor and bass duet "Ein unbegreiflich Licht erfüllt den ganzen Kreis der Erden" (An unfathomable light fills the entire orb of the earth)[1] is focused on the light mentioned by Simeon, expressed in a joyful mood.[1] Hofmann notes: "The playful character is shown by the extended, circling coloratura on the word 'Kreis' ('circle' or 'orb'), and the baroque sound effect of statement and response unfolds to the words 'Es schallet kräftig fort und fort' (Powerfully there rings out time after time.)"[16] Jones comments that the trio sonata of two violins and continuo which accompanies the voices "in its vigour and fluency perhaps represents the powerful, continuous sound to which the text refers."[35]

The alto expresses in a secco recitative "O unerschöpfter Schatz der Güte" (O uncreated hoard of goodness),[1] which Hofmann calls a "concise theological analysis".[24]

The closing chorale, "Er ist das Heil und selig Licht" (He is the salvation and the blessed light),[1] is a four-part setting of the hymn tune.[37]

The horn and flute (an octave higher), oboe, and first violin all reinforce the soprano part, the second violin the alto, and the viola the tenor.[29]

Jones summarizes in his book The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach: "The exceptionally high quality of the music may reflect Bach's response to the divine authority of the Nunc dimittis, mediated by the revered founder of the Lutheran Church."[35]