J.S. Bach: Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen, BWV 146 - The Church Cantatas

BWV146 for sunday Jubilate (of the year 1726, 12 May) traces a path from sadness to joy, as the title, words from Acts 14, 22, indicates. It opens with a superb sinfonia, a transcription from the harpsichord concerto BWV1052, set in this version for organ. Its almost minimal music like repetitive figures, the lines for violin and then oboe, the dramatic pauses and long cadences, make for a complex yet clear piece of music. In the following chorus the slow movement from the same concerto is pressed into service, the four voices being woven into it in such a way that we would never have guessed that it wasn’t a completely original piece. The `Trübsal’ of which the text speaks is vividly expressed in the long lines, through which the continuo and violins play the tune from the concerto. The alto aria once again employs the organ, with illustrative runs on `nach den Himmel’; `schnöder Sodom’ is called up vividly, and there is a nice touch at the phrase `ich und du sind geschieden’: a break between `ich’