Bach Choir of Bethlehem

Cantata BWV 106 "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit"
Continued from previous page

Once again, one section merges with the next, as one final statement of the ritornello resolves into the start of the next section, another aria, this one for bass. This section is lively and almost dance-like; that feeling is promoted by not only the quick tempo but also by the triple meter and activity in the flute lines. The text seems almost a misfit for the music, as the bass orders "Bestelle dein Haus! Denn du wirst sterben und nicht lebendig bleiben (set your house in order, for you shall die and not live)"–stern words for such a vigorous and vivacious musical setting. Ultimately, this aria concludes by resolving into yet another contrasting fugal choral section. The SAT parts echo, more gently perhaps, the bass solo’s words, recognizing God’s covenant with man, that we should die in order that we might live. Unlike the previous fugue, this one has an independent continuo part–that is, one that does more than just support or reinforce the vocal bass line--written as a walking bass line (marked in green) to propel the motion forward underneath the slower vocal parts. The vocal parts are dissonant, with leaps outlining diminished sevenths (marked in red).

This is a three-voice fugue, as the sopranos are left out, held back for the introduction of a new text ("Ja, komm, Herr Jesu!" —Yes, come, Lord Jesus!) and different melody which change the character of the music. Bach later combines the soprano melody and text with a return of the fugal passage, inevitably linking our death with a plea for the coming of Jesus Christ–is it Bach’s wish and hope to see Christ upon his own death?

The ending of the movement is unusual and notable. The three lower parts stick with the "Mensch, du must sterben" text, presented in imitative fashion though with much closer entrances (marked in light blue). The upper orchestral parts accelerate, too, repeating the sighing motive (marked in purple); ultimately, the three lower voices leap downward, two using a descending tritone interval (marked in green), leading to a dissonant half cadence on a fully diminished seventh chord (marked in red)–the most dissonant of chords–while the continuo line holds steadfastly to repeated F tones (the tonic of the key) (marked in orange). The combined E F G B-flat D-flat sound is even more unsettling. The lower vocal part do not resolve this tension; instead, the soprano alone emerges from the dissonance to wind its way in downward in an intricate, ornate passage while the continuo persists with the F tonic pitch. The continuo eventually abandons this, leaving the soprano alone to conclude the movement. It is a rather weak ending, unaccompanied, ending on an A natural (thus, ending the movement on the Picardy third, lending a major mode flavor here), without a strong V-I authentic cadence. Following this, Bach write 3 beats of rest, followed by a full measure rest (rests marked in pink) under a fermata, and a thicker double bar (marked in blue) than we see elsewhere. Does Bach mean to indicate some greater distinction to the end of this section? Does it bear greater meaning? In the end, all that is left if Herr Jesu (Lord Jesus). Do Christians need anything more?

Although there is still much more to this cantata, I wish only to briefly review the next movement. What follows is an alto aria, supported by a pseudo-ostinato, a repeating (or at least very similar) ascending passage of sixteenth notes in the continuo. The alto sings "in deine Hände befehl ich meinen Geist" (into your hands I commend my spirit)–though a quote from a psalm, it is a line of text we frequently associate with the death of Christ on the cross. Following this, the solo bass voice uses text from Luke, "Heute wirst du mit mir in Paradies" (today, you will be with me in paradise)–the perfect textual compliment to the alto’s words. The bass solo is accompanied by a descending passage of sixteenth notes in the continuo, not quite an actual inversion of the alto continuo line, though making the listener certainly think that. Half-way through his solo, the alto returns, this time singing in long tones a chorale tune, thus creating a chorale-fantasy texture that we often think of when we think of Bach’s chorale cantatas.