Herrscher des Himmels from Christmas Oratorio
BWV 248/3 performed by the Netherlands Bach Society
conducted by Shunske Sato
Muziekcentrum van de Omroep, Hilversum
Behind the music
Story
Story
Extra videos
Extra videos
Texts
Texts
Credits
Credits
Hear our inarticulate speech
In the third cantata of the Christmas Oratorio, the shepherds bring the glad tidings to the people
The first three cantatas of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio form a musical whole, for which Bach drew on his secular cantata Tönet ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten, BWV 219, the opening chorus of which he had already arranged as the opening chorus of cantata 1 from the Christmas Oratorio. We now hear the final chorus as both the opening and the final chorus of cantata 3. This makes the third cantata from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio the closing piece of what you might call the first cycle of the oratorio.
This first cycle follows a single narrative line, whereby Bach and his lyricist Picander quote directly from the gospel of Luke. In cantata 1, we are in Bethlehem, where Mary is bringing Jesus into the world, in the stable of a crowded inn. In cantata 2, we are with the shepherds in the field when they hear that the saviour of mankind has been born in Bethlehem. In cantata 3, these pieces of the puzzle come together: the shepherds come to Bethlehem and proclaim what the angel has told them, and so bring the glad tidings of the birth of Jesus to the people for the first time.
Christmas time in Leipzig in 1734 was bursting with music. Not only was Bach’s grand Christmas Oratorio performed, but everywhere in the town you could hear Christmas songs and the ringing of bells. In the opening chorus, Picander refers to them in sparing terms: “Ruler of heaven, hear our inarticulate speech, let our faint songs please you.” This booming chorus, however, is anything but faint, as Bach pulls out all the stops with drum rolls and trumpet blasts – but Picander’s text emphasises the fact that this human music can only be a pale shadow of God’s glory. And there is indeed something frivolous about this dancy and almost riotous passepied. Yet Bach believed in the divine significance of this music. In his personal Bible, he underlined passages from which he inferred that music was an essential part of a faith that was ‘agreeable to God’.
Almost immediately we hear the shepherds, saying in chorus ‘let us go to Bethlehem’. In a cheerful chorus section, Bach portrays them almost as lively schoolchildren, constantly interrupting one another with the same idea. Haste is also suggested by the running bass part. A bass recitative urges the shepherds on once again. Then Bach lends meaning to all this excitement in a chorale: Jesus has been born because God has shown mercy to mankind.
One highlight is undoubtedly the duet for alto and bass, ‘Herr, dein Mitleid’, a clever arrangement of a love duet from Bach’s cantata BWV 213, Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns Wachen. What sounded sensual there sounds pure and simple in this duet – a concise creed, accompanied by two pastoral oboi d’amore. Then the shepherds arrive to visit Jesus, Joseph and Mary. They soon tell what they have heard: the child in the manger must be the Messiah, as the angels told them. The people are staggered, but Mary reflects on what she has heard.
Just like Mary, the faithful must take these words to heart, sings the alto in an introverted aria with obbligato violin – which is another highlight. Following a recitative, accompanied by two flutes, it seems that the congregation takes her advice, in a simple chorale that vows loyalty to Jesus.
Then the shepherds depart for home, ‘praising and glorifying God for all that they had seen and heard.’ And finally, we hear the opening chorus again, now as the closing chorus of the whole cycle, but not before an edifying chorale sums up the key lesson: ‘Hence be glad that your salvation here is born’.
- BWV
- 248/3
- Title
- Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen
- Epithet
- Cantata no. 3 from Christmas Oratorio
- Instrument
- alto, bass, soprano, tenor
- Genre
- cantatas
- Year
- 1734
- City
- Leipzig
- Occasion
- third Christmas day
- First performance
- 27 December 1734
- Special notes
- Bach reused parts from his cantatas BWV 213 and 214
Extra videos
Bach's Christmas Oratorio - Bridging the earthly and the heavenly
“In this background video on the Christmas Oratorio violinist and leader Shunske Sato takes the viewer back to eighteenth-century Germany and the Christmas traditions of the time. How does Bach's Christmas Oratorio fits within these traditions?”
Vocal texts
Original
1. Chor
Herrscher des Himmels,
erhöre das Lallen,
laß dir die matten Gesänge gefallen,
wenn dich dein Zion mit Psalmen erhöht!
Höre der Herzen frohlockendes Preisen,
wenn wir dir itzo die Ehrfurcht erweisen,
weil unsre Wohlfahrt befestiget steht!
2. Rezitativ (Tenor)
Und da die Engel von ihnen
gen Himmel fuhren,
sprachen die Hirten untereinander:
3. Chor
Lasset uns nun gehen gen Bethlehem
und die Geschichte sehen,
die da geschehen ist,
die uns der Herr kundgetan hat.
4. Rezitativ (Bass)
Er hat sein Volk getröst’,
er hat sein Israel erlöst,
die Hülf aus Zion hergesendet
und unser Leid geendet.
Seht, Hirten, dies hat er getan;
geht, dieses trefft ihr an!
5. Choral
Dies hat er alles uns getan,
sein groß Lieb zu zeigen an;
des freu sich alle Christenheit
und dank ihm des in Ewigkeit.
Kyrieleis!
6. Arie (Sopran, Bass)
Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen
tröstet uns und macht uns frei.
Deine holde Gunst und Liebe,
deine wundersamen Triebe
machen deine Vatertreu
wieder neu.
7. Rezitativ (Tenor)
Und sie kamen eilend und funden
beide, Mariam und Joseph,
dazu das Kind in der Krippe liegen.
Da sie es aber gesehen hatten,
breiteten sie das Wort aus,
welches zu ihnen von diesem Kind
gesaget war.
Und alle, vor die es kam,
wunderten sich der Rede,
die ihnen die Hirten gesaget hatten.
Maria aber behielt alle diese Worte
und bewegte sie in ihrem Herzen.
8. Arie (Alt)
Schließe, mein Herze, dies selige Wunder
fest in deinem Glauben ein!
Lasse dies Wunder, die göttlichen Werke
immer zur Stärke
deines schwachen Glaubens sein!
9. Rezitativ (Alt)
Ja, ja, mein Herz soll es bewahren,
was es an dieser holden Zeit
zu seiner Seligkeit
für sicheren Beweis erfahren.
10. Choral
Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren,
ich will dir leben hier,
dir will ich abfahren,
mit dir will ich endlich schweben
voller Freud ohne Zeit
dort im andern Leben.
11. Rezitativ (Tenor)
Und die Hirten kehrten wieder um,
preiseten und lobten Gott um alles,
das sie gesehen und gehöret hatten,
wie denn zu ihnen gesaget war.
12. Choral
Seid froh dieweil,
daß euer Heil
ist hie ein Gott
und auch ein Mensch geboren,
der, welcher ist
der Herr und Christ
in Davids Stadt,
von vielen auserkoren.
13. Chor
Herrscher des Himmels,
erhöre das Lallen,
laß dir die matten Gesänge gefallen,
wenn dich dein Zion mit Psalmen erhöht!
Höre der Herzen frohlockendes Preisen,
wenn wir dir itzo die Ehrfurcht erweisen,
weil unsre Wohlfahrt befestiget steht!
Translation
1. Chorus
Ruler of heaven,
give heed to our [well-intentioned] babbling;
Let the [church’s] feeble songs be pleasing to you
When your [Christian] Zion extols you with psalms.
Hear the hearts’ exultant praising
When we now show you reverence
Because our welfare is made certain.
2. Recitative (Tenor)
And when the angels departed from them
into heaven,
the shepherds declared to one another:
3. Chorus
Let us now go into Bethlehem
and see the story
that has happened there,
which the Lord has made known to us.
4. Recitative (Bass)
He [the Lord God] has comforted his people,
He has redeemed his [Christian] Israel,
Sent salvation out of Zion,
And ended our suffering.
Look, shepherds, this he has done;
Go, you will come upon this.
5. Chorale
All this he has done for us
To show his great love;
For this let all of Christendom be glad
And thus thank him in eternity.
Lord, have mercy!
6. Aria (Soprano, Bass)
Lord, your compassion, your mercy
Comforts us and sets us free.
Your gracious favor and love,
Your wondrous impulses,
Make your paternal faithfulness
New again [every morning].
7. Recitative (Tenor)
And they [the shepherds] came hurrying and found
both Mary and Joseph, [and]
in addition the child [who was] lying in the manger.
But when they had seen it [the infant, Jesus],
they spread the word
that had been told to them
of this child.
And all who met with it [the word]
were surprised at the account
that the shepherds had told them.
But Mary kept all these words
and turned them over within her heart.
8. Aria (Alto)
My heart, seal this blessed marvel [of Christ’s advent]
Steadfastly within your faith.
Let this marvel, the divine deeds,
Be ever [a means] for [increasing] the strength
Of your weak faith.
9. Recitative (Alto)
Yes, yes, my heart shall safeguard
What it, at this merciful/gracious time [of Christ’s advent] has experienced as certain proof
For its [eternal] blessedness [of salvation].
10. Chorale
I will safeguard you [in heart and mind] with diligence;
I will live to you here [on earth];
To you will I [go when I] depart [this life];
With you will I [like an angel] hover [in heaven] at last,
Full of joy, without [earthly] temporality,
There in the afterlife.
11. Recitative (Tenor)
And the shepherds returned [to the field] again,
praising and lauding God for all
that they had seen and heard,
[which was] just as had been told to them.
12. Chorale
Be joyful therefore,
Because your salvation
Has been born here [on earth as]
a god and also a human being;
He who is The Lord and Christ,
[Born] in [Bethlehem,] the city of David,
[Jesus, the servant,] chosen [by God]
from [among] many.
13. Chorus
Ruler of heaven,
give heed to our [well-intentioned] babbling;
Let the [church’s] feeble songs be pleasing to you
When your [Christian] Zion extols you with psalms.
Hear the hearts’ exultant praising
When we now show you reverence
Because our welfare is made certain.
transl. © Daniel R. Melamed and Michael Marissen
For the annotated version of the text and translation, see here.
Credits
-
- Release date
- 19 December 2024
-
- Recording date
- 3 January 2023
-
- Location
- Muziekcentrum van de Omroep, Hilversum
-
- Violin and direction
- Shunske Sato
-
- Soprano
- Viola Blache
-
- Alto
- Ulrike Malotta
-
- Tenor
- Daniel Johannsen
-
- Bass
- Matthias Helm
-
- Ripieno soprano
- Marta Paklar, Anna Bachleitner, Monica Monteiro
-
- Ripieno alto
- Bernadett Nagy, Sofia Gvirts, Georgia Burashko
-
- Ripieno tenor
- João Moreira, Adriaan de Koster, Immo Schröder
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- Ripieno bass
- Matthew Baker, Donald Bentvelsen, Samuel Wong
-
- Violin 1
- Pieter Affourtit, Anneke van Haaften, Lidewij van der Voort
-
- Violin 2
- Lucia Giraudo, Annelies van der Vegt, Iris Kengen
-
- Viola
- Deirdre Dowling, Ivan Saez Schwartz
-
- Cello
- Lucia Swarts, Barbara Kernig
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- Double bass
- Robert Franenberg
-
- Traverso
- Marten Root, Doretthe Janssens
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- Oboe
- Rodrigo Lopez Paz, Katharina Verhaar
-
- Bassoon
- Benny Aghassi
-
- Trumpet
- Robert Vanryne, Mark Geelen, Nicholas Emmerson
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- Timpani
- Robert Kendell
-
- Organ
- Leo van Doeselaar
-
- Harpsichord
- Siebe Henstra
-
- Theorbo
- Fred Jacobs
-
- Director and editor
- Onno van Ameijde
-
- Music recording
- Guido Tichelman, Lilita Dunsk, Pim van der Lee
-
- Music edit and mix
- Guido Tichelman
-
- Camera
- Rieks Soepenberg, Jorne Tielemans, Maria Smeets, Jasper Verkaart
-
- Lights
- Ernst-Jan Thieme, Tino Schoeber, Jordi Kooij, Patrick Galvin
-
- Assistant director
- Marieke Donker Kaat
-
- Data handling
- Jasper Verkaart
-
- Assistant music recording
- Marloes Biermans
-
- Documentary
- Onno van Ameijde, Marloes Biermans
-
- Producer concert
- Imke Deters
-
- Producer film
- Marieke de Blaay, Laura Jonker
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