Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3

Bach composed the cantata in his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig as part of his second annual cycle, planned to consist only of chorale cantatas based on Lutheran hymns.[2] He wrote the cantata for the Second Sunday after Epiphany.[3] The prescribed readings for the Sunday were taken from the Epistle to the Romans (we have several gifts – Romans 12:6–16) and from the Gospel of John (the Wedding at Cana from John 2 (  John 2:1–11)).[3]

The cantata is a chorale cantata based on the hymn "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" in 18 stanzas attributed to Martin Moller (1587). It is a paraphrase of the Latin "Jesu dulcis memoria", a medieval hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux,[4] a meditation on Jesus as a comforter and helper in distress.[3][5] The unknown librettist retained the words of stanzas 1, 2 and 18 as movements 1, 2 and 6. In movement 2, stanza 2 is expanded by paraphrases of stanzas 3–5, while movement 3 is a paraphrase of stanza 6; movement 4 incorporates ideas from stanzas 7–14, and movement 5 relies on stanzas 15 and 16. In movement 2, stanza 2 is expanded by paraphrases of stanzas 3–5. Movement 3 is a paraphrase of stanza 6. Movement 4 incorporates ideas from stanzas 7–14. Movement 5 relies on stanzas 15 and 16.[3] The poet did not relate his text to the reading from John 1:2.[2]

Bach led the first performance of the cantata on 14 January 1725.[3]

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. An opening chorus and a closing chorale frame a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias. The first recitative is unusual: the chorus sings one line of the hymn's four lines, continued each time by a soloist in words of the poet.[6] The last aria is a duet. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T), bass (B)), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of horn (Co) to double the cantus firmus in the closing chorale, trombone (Tb) to reinforce the bass in the opening chorus, two oboes d'amore (Oa), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo.[4][7] The autograph score bears the title: "Dominica 2 post Epiphanias / Ach Gott! Wie manches Hertzeleyd. / à / 4 Voci. / 2 Hautb: d'Amour / 2 Violini / Viola. / e Continuo / di J. S. Bach", which means "Sunday 2 after Epiphany ... for four voices, 2 oboes d'amore, 2 violins, viola and continuo by J. S. Bach".[8]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring and keys follow the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from the book on all cantatas by the Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4).[3] The continuo, played throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid

No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid	Moller	Chorus	SATB	Tb 2Oa	2Vl Va	A major
2	Wie schwerlich läßt sich Fleisch und Blut	Moller anon.	Recitative and chorale	T S A B			A major
3	Empfind ich Höllenangst und Pein	anon.	Aria	B			F-sharp minor	3/4
4	Es mag mir Leib und Geist verschmachten	anon.	Recitative	T
5	Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen	anon.	Aria Duetto	S A	2Oa	Vl (unis.)	E major
6	Erhalt mein Herz im Glauben rein	Moller	Chorale	SATB	Co 2Ob	2Vl Va	A major

Bach uses a melody of "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht"[4] which appeared first in the Lochamer-Liederbuch. The melody appears in the opening chorus, sung by the bass as a cantus firmus, in the second movement, as a four-part setting with interspersed recitatives, and in the closing chorale.[2]

1

John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, in 2007

In the opening chorus, "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" (Ah, God, how much heartache),[1] the cantus firmus is in the bass, which is doubled by the trombone, as in Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BWV 135. Its mood of lamentation is supported by "elegiac sounds" of the oboes d'amore, sighing motifs in the strings, and the upper voices reflecting the oboe motifs.[4] John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, notes that Bach used a repeated motif of six notes in chromatic descent, which is often used in chaconnes of the Baroque opera to express grief. The motif is used for the instrumental opening, each entry of a voice, interludes and conclusion.[9]

The selection is taken from the listing on the Bach-Cantatas website.[10]

• Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid BWV 3; BC A 33 / Chorale cantata (2nd Sunday of Epiphany) Bach Digital
• BWV 3 Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid English translation. University of Vermont
• Luke Dahn: BWV 3.6 bach-chorales.com