Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgendein Schmerz sei
BWV 46 performed by the Netherlands Bach Society
conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann
Grote Kerk Veere
Behind the music
Story
Story
Texts
Texts
Credits
Credits
Double layers and meanings
This cantata gives you a vague feeling of recognition
In the opening chorus of BWV 46, Bach paints a picture of affliction and suffering, in a large-scale prelude and fugue. The words come from the Lamentations of Jeremiah in the Bible, and refer to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. But the text is also seen as a foreshadowing of the Passion of Christ (it is no coincidence that the same text also appears in Handel’s Messiah), thus linking the Old and New Testaments.
In the recitative for the tenor, the link between the Old and New Testaments is made more explicit, referring first to Jerusalem and then to Christ. This link is also musical, as we hear the two recorders again, just like in the opening chorus. Eventually, the recorders will have a linking function in the whole cantata, once again playing a prominent role in the aria for the alto and the closing chorale.
The raging aria for the bass that follows can be interpreted in two ways – just like the opening chorus. Is God’s wrath aimed at ancient Jerusalem, today’s sinners, or both? This multi-layering is reminiscent of a palimpsest. That is literally a manuscript where the ink, and thus the text, is scratched out, so that the valuable parchment can be reused for a new text. However, if you look carefully, you can still see the shadow of the old text on the page.
The concept of a palimpsest is also a good term for when Bach reuses music he has composed before, by removing and replacing the old text. BWV 46 is a good example of this. For those who cannot immediately place the vague feeling of recognition: the first half of the opening chorus of this cantata was reworked by Bach years later to become the ‘Qui tollis peccata’ in his Mass in B minor.
The aria for the alto shows how Bach sometimes enriches texts and shrouds them in a new web of meaning – even without the aforementioned reuse of music. The aria talks of Jesus protecting us, as if we were his sheep or chicks. But the music – without the foundation of the basso continuo but in a remarkable setting for two recorders and oboes da caccia in unison – creates a slightly vague, rather tragic and unearthly feeling of loss. Here, Bach seems to want to say something musically that we cannot make out from the words themselves. If you read and listen carefully, everything thus has multiple layers.
- BWV
- 46
- Title
- Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgendein Schmerz sei
- Genre
- cantatas
- Year
- 1723
- City
- Leipzig
- First performance
- 1 August 1723
Supported by
Extra videos
Vocal texts
Original
1. Chor
Schauet doch und sehet,
ob irgendein Schmerz sei
wie mein Schmerz, der mich troffen hat.
Denn der Herr hat mich voll Jammers gemacht
am Tage seines grimmigen Zorns.
2. Rezitativ (Tenor)
So klage, du zustörte Gottesstadt,
du armer Stein- und Aschenhaufen!
Laß ganze Bäche Tränen laufen,
weil dich betroffen hat
ein unersetzlicher Verlust
der allerhöchsten Huld,
so du entbehren mußt durch deine Schuld.
Du wurdest wie Gomorra zugerichtet,
wiewohl nicht gar vernichtet.
O besser wärest du
in Grund verstört,
als daß man Christi Feind
jetzt in dir lästern hört.
Du achtest Jesu Tränen nicht,
so achte nun des Eifers Wasserwogen,
die du selbst über dich gezogen,
da Gott, nach viel Geduld,
den Stab zum Urteil bricht.
3. Arie (Bass)
Dein Wetter zog sich auf von weiten,
doch dessen Strahl bricht endlich ein
und muß dir unerträglich sein,
da überhäufte Sünden
der Rache Blitz entzünden
und dir den Untergang bereiten.
4. Rezitativ (Alt)
Doch bildet euch, o Sünder, ja nicht ein,
es sei Jerusalem allein
vor andern Sünden voll gewesen!
Man kann bereits von euch dies Urteil lesen:
Weil ihr euch nicht bessert
und täglich die Sünden vergrößert,
so müsset ihr alle so schrecklich umkommen.
5. Arie (Alt)
Doch Jesus will auch bei der Strafe
der Frommen Schild und Beistand sein,
er sammlet sie als seine Schafe,
als seine Küchlein liebreich ein.
Wenn Wetter der Rache
die Sünder belohnen,
hilft er, daß Fromme sicher wohnen.
6. Choral
O großer Gott von Treu,
weil vor dir niemand gilt
als dein Sohn Jesus Christ,
der deinen Zorn gestillt,
so sieh doch an die Wunden sein,
sein Marter, Angst und schwere Pein;
um seinetwillen schone,
uns nicht nach Sünden lohne.
Translation
1. Chorus
Behold, and see
if there be any sorrow
like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me,
wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me
in the day of His fierce anger.
2. Recitative (Tenor)
Lament, then, devastated town of God,
O wretched heap of stone and ashes!
Let brimming streams of tears flow,
for you have been struck
by an irreplaceable loss
of the most precious grace,
which you must forfeit through your own fault.
You have been dealt with like Gomorrah,
although not quite destroyed.
Oh, better had you
been razed to the ground
than that Christ’s foes
be heard blaspheming in you.
You did not heed the tears of Jesus,
but heed now the tidal wave of zealotry
which you have heaped upon yourself,
since God, after great forbearance,
now breaks the rod of judgement.
3. Aria (Bass)
Thy tempest gathered from afar,
but lightning finally broke loose
and must be more than you can bear,
since a brimming store of sins
ignites the lightning’s wrath
which now brings about your ruin.
4. Recitative (Alto)
And yet, O sinners, you must not suppose
that Jerusalem alone
is more than others filled with sin!
This judgement may even now be read to you:
since you do not mend your ways
and grow more sinful with each day,
you must all perish in such a dreadful manner.
5. Aria (Alto)
Yet Jesus shall, even while dispensing punishment,
protect and help the righteous;
he gathers them together most lovingly
as His own sheep and chickens.
When storms of vengeance
reward the sinners,
he helps the righteous to dwell in safety.
6. Chorale
O great God of faithfulness,
since for Thee no man is worthy
but Thy Son Jesus Christ,
who hath stilled Thine anger,
look upon those wounds of His,
His torment, fear and grievous pain,
and spare us for His sake,
and do not reward us for our sins.
translation © Richard Stokes
Credits
-
- Release date
- 29 August 2024
-
- Recording date
- 10 March 2023
-
- Location
- Grote Kerk Veere
-
- Conductor
- Hans-Christoph Rademann
-
- Alto
- Franz Vitzthum
-
- Tenor
- Guy Cutting
-
- Bass
- Tobias Berndt
-
- Ripieno soprano
- Lauren Armishaw, Marta Paklar, Kristen Witmer
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- Ripieno alto
- Bernadett Nagy, Sofia Gvirts
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- Ripieno tenor
- Adriaan de Koster, João Moreira
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- Ripieno bass
- Donald Bentvelsen, Jaap van der Wel
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- Violin 1
- Cecilia Bernardini, Anneke van Haaften, Pieter Affourtit
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- Violin 2
- Lidewij van der Voort, Mayumi Sargent Harada, Kano Imada
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- Viola
- Bernadette Verhagen, Ivan Jorge Saez Schwartz
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- Cello
- Lucia Swarts, Anna Litvinenko
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- Double bass
- Robert Franenberg
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- Recorder
- Benny Aghassi, Pieter-Jan Belder
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- Oboe da caccia
- Rodrigo Lopez Paz, Katharina Verhaar
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- Corno da tirarsi
- Robert Vanryne
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- Harpsichord
- Siebe Henstra
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- Organ
- Leo van Doeselaar
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- Director and editor
- Bas Wielenga
-
- Music recording
- Guido Tichelman, Pim van der Lee, Lilita Dunska
-
- Music edit and mix
- Guido Tichelman
-
- Camera
- Martijn Struijf, Wesley Schipper, Jesper Blok, Bjorn Tiebout, Glenn van Eerden
-
- Lights
- Ernst-Jan Thieme, Martijn Schroeber, Jordi Kooij, Joey Marcoux
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- Stylist
- Ellen Julianus
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- Assistant director
- Ferenc Soeteman
-
- Assistant music recording
- Marloes Biermans
-
- Producer film
- Marieke de Blaay, Laura Jonker
-
- Producer concert
- Imke Deters
-
- Supported by
- MWH4impact
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