Structure and scoring Bach structured the cantata in seven
movements; as with many works of
Georg Philipp Telemann, but rare in Bach's cantatas, the Bible quotation is split in two movements, a
duet and a chorus which follows immediately in a different
time and faster
tempo. He scored the work for
soprano (S),
alto (A),
tenor (T) and
bass (B) soloists, a
four-part choir SATB, and a
Baroque instrumental ensemble of two
oboes (Ob), two
violins (Vl),
viola (Va) and
basso continuo. In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the
Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The
keys and
time signatures are taken from
Alfred Dürrs's standard book
The Cantatas of J. S. Bach, using the symbol for common time (4/4). He gave the duration as 22 minutes. The basso continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
Music 1 and 2 The duet is an expressive
lamento, introduced by the two oboes in imitation on
themes which the voices pick up. The representation of the voice of Jesus by tenor and bass is reminiscent of
Heinrich Schütz, and the way to go instantly from duet to chorus is a feature that Telemann frequently uses. The chorus has been described as "tumultuous and excited" and likened to the rendering of the excited crowd (turba) in Bach's
St John Passion and
St Matthew Passion. It follows the text in mostly
homophonic sections with independent instruments. The beginning, "" (But the time will come), is rendered in block chords () as "repeated rhetorical calls". In the following "" (when whoever kills you), the word "" is "twice emphasized by a sudden, mysterious
piano and wan,
chromatically tinged harmonies", according to the Bach scholar
Klaus Hofmann, or "menacing chromatic texture of sustained notes underpinned by unexpected
harmonies", according to Julian Mincham. Finally "" (will think that he does God a service by it) is interpreted by free imitation. After this sequential presentation of the three ideas of the text, they are repeated in variation and combination. Mincham summarised the "uncompromising" tone of the statement "the time will come when your murderer will believe that he has done a service to God".
3 Movement 3 refers to the opening in tranquil 3/4 time with an
obbligato oboe. The words "" (martyrdom, exile, and bitter pain) are coloured in expressive chromatic, although the text speaks of overcoming them. Hofmann described "sigh-like suspension and emotionally charged harmonic darkening".
4 The commenting chorale, on the almost unadorned melody of "", is sung by the tenor on an
ostinato in the continuo derived from the first line of the chorale. Hofmann observed in the continuo ostinato that "at the place where the song text has the word "Herzeleid" (heart ache), it is expanded by means of chromatic notes in between – a figurative expression of sorrow, of the lamentation that characterizes the whole movement". Mincham noted that this central chorale "seems almost to pre-empt the
atonal harmonies of the twentieth century".
5 and 6 The following short secco
recitative marks a turning point, resulting in an
aria of consolation in dance-like movement, accompanied by the strings doubled by the oboes. In the middle section, storms and "winds of trouble" give way to "the sun of joy soon smiled" (die Freudensonne bald gelacht), expressed in vivid
coloraturas.
7 The cantata closes with a four-part chorale setting on the melody of "
O Welt, ich muß dich lassen", which resembles the setting of the same melody in
movement 10 of the
St Matthew Passion, "". == Recordings ==