The Long LineThe Long Line

Johann Sebastian Bach

Kantate, BWV 33 "Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ"

BWV 33

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (Only upon You, Lord Jesus Christ), BWV 33, in Leipzig in 1724 for the thirteenth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 3 September 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the 1540 hymn "Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" by Konrad Hubert.

Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ belongs to Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the second cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. The text retains the first and last stanza of the chorale unchanged, while the text of the two inner stanzas was paraphrased by an unknown librettist into a sequence of four movements, alternating recitatives and arias. The first movement is a chorale fantasia, and the work is closed by a four-part chorale setting.

The cantata is scored for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir, a Baroque instrumental ensemble of oboes and strings, and basso continuo.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Movements

  1. Coro "Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ"
  2. Recitativo (Basso) "Mein Gott und Richter"
  3. Aria (Alto) "Wie furchtsam wankten meine Schritte"
  4. Recitativo (Tenore) "Mein Gott, verwirf mich nicht"
  5. Aria (Duetto: Tenore, Basso) "Gott, der du die Liebe heißt"
  6. Choral "Ehr sei Gott in dem höchsten Thron"

Elsewhere

← All of the composer’s works