Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166

Wo gehest du hin?
BWV 166
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
Thomaskirche, Leipzig, 1885
Occasion	Cantate Sunday
Bible text	John 16:5
Chorale	by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt by Ämilie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Performed	7 May 1724 (1724-05-07): Leipzig
Movements	6
Vocal	SATB soloists and choir
Instrumental	oboe 2 violins viola continuo

Wo gehest du hin? ("Where are you heading?",^[1] literally: "Where do you go?"), BWV 166, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Cantate, the fourth Sunday after Easter, and first performed it on 7 May 1724.

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Transcription

History and words

Bach composed the cantata in his first year in Leipzig for the Fourth Sunday after Easter, called Cantate. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle of James, "Every good gift comes from the Father of lights" (James 1:17–21), and from the Gospel of John, Jesus announcing the Comforter in his Farewell Discourse (John 16:5–15).

We do not know the identity of the person who was writing Bach's librettos during his first year in Leipzig. The poet, whoever he or she was, begins by posing a question, a quotation from the gospel. The answer to the question is the theme of the cantata, which explores the direction in which life should go. The poet inserted as movement 3 the third stanza of Bartholomäus Ringwaldt's hymn "Herr Jesu Christ, ich weiß gar wohl" (1582)^[2] and as the closing chorale the first stanza of Ämilie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt's "Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende" (1688).^[3]

Scoring and structure

The cantata in six movements is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir only for the closing chorale, oboe, two violins, viola and basso continuo. The cantus firmus of movement 3 is typically sung by the soprano of the choir.^[4]

Arioso (bass): Wo gehest du hin
Aria (tenor): Ich will an den Himmel denken
Chorale (soprano): Ich bitte dich, Herr Jesu Christ
Recitative (bass): Gleichwie die Regenwasser bald verfließen
Aria (alto): Man nehme sich in acht
Chorale: Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende

Music

The question "Where do you go?", comes from a particular context (John 16:5: "but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'"). Bach gives the question on its own to the bass as the vox Christi addressing the listener directly.^[4] This simple question is one of the shortest lyrics for a movement in a Bach cantata.^[5]

The tenor aria survives in an incomplete form. It was first published completely in the Neue Bach-Ausgabe.^[4] The soprano sings the cantus firmus of movement 3 on the melody of "Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut"^[6] completely unadorned and is accompanied by the violins and viola in unison, "of great vigour and determination, urged on by steady continuo quavers".^[5]^[7] The last aria, in great contrast, illustrates mostly the word "lacht" (laughs), although the text warns that a fall may come "wenn das Glück lacht" (when fortune winks).^[1] The laughter is pictured in "the various oscillating semi-quaver figures in the strings" and in melismas on the word "lacht".^[5] The final chorale on the melody of "Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten" ^[8] is set for four parts.^[4]

Recordings

Die Bach Kantate Vol. 32, Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helen Watts, Aldo Baldin, Wolfgang Schöne, Hänssler 1978
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 9, Gustav Leonhardt, Tölzer Knabenchor, Collegium Vocale Gent, Leonhardt-Consort, soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Max van Egmond, Teldec 1987
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 9, Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Bernhard Landauer, Christoph Prégardien, Klaus Mertens, Antoine Marchand 1998
Bach Cantatas Vol. 24: Altenburg/Warwick, John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Robin Tyson, James Gilchrist, Stephen Varcoe, Soli Deo Gloria 2000
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 19 (Cantatas from Leipzig 1724), Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Robin Blaze, Makoto Sakurada, Stephan MacLeod, BIS 2001
J. S. Bach: Kantate BWV 166 "Wo gehest du hin?", Rudolf Lutz, Vokalensemble der Schola Seconda Pratica, Schola Seconda Pratica, Guro Hjemli, Terry Wey, Gerd Türk, Markus Volpert, Gallus Media 2008

Notes

References

^ ^a ^b Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 166 – Wo gehest du hin?". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
^ "Herr Jesu Christ, ich weiß gar wohl / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas website. 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
^ "Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende? / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas website. 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dürr, Alfred (2006). "Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166". The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Translated by Richard D. P. Jones. Oxford University Press. pp. 315–317. ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 53 BWV 166 Wo gehest du hin?". The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut". Bach Cantatas website. 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
^ Leonard, James. Cantata No. 166, Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166 at AllMusic
^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten". Bach Cantatas website. 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2012.

External links

Wo gehest du hin?, BWV 166: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
"Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166; BC A 71 / Sacred cantata (5th Sunday of Easter)", Bach Digital
"Cantata BWV 166 Wo gehest du hin?", history, scoring, sources for text and music, translations to various languages, discography, discussion, Bach Cantatas website
"BWV 166 Wo gehest du hin?", English translation, University of Vermont
"BWV 166 Wo gehest du hin?", text, scoring, University of Alberta
Gardiner, John Eliot (2005). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) / Cantatas Nos 12, 103, 108, 117, 146 & 166 (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 11 May 2019.
Luke Dahn:BWV 166.6 bach-chorales.com

v t e Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach
Before Leipzig	Early: BWV 4 131 71 1138.1 & .2 106 196 150 143 Weimar: BWV 61 70a 186a 132 147a 63 152 155 18 54 80a 182 31 12 172 165 21 185 199 161 162 163 Köthen: BWV Anh. 5
First cycle (1723–24)	Between Trinity and Advent: BWV 75 76 24 167 147 186 136 105 46 179 69a 77 25 138 95 148 48 109 89 60 90 70 From Advent to Trinity: BWV 40 64 190 153 65 154 73 81 83 144 181 22 23 66 134 67 104 166 86 37 44 59 184
Second cycle (and chorale cantatas)	Chorale cantatas between Trinity and Easter: BWV 20 2 7 135 10 93 107 178 94 101 113 33 78 99 8 130 114 96 5 180 38 115 139 26 116 62 91 121 133 122 41 123 124 3 111 92 125 126 127 1 Continuation of the second cycle: BWV 6 42 85 103 108 87 128 183 74 68 175 176 Later additions to the chorale cantata cycle: BWV 80 137 129 58 112 140 177 9 14 Other late chorale cantatas: BWV 117 192 100 97
Third cycle	After Trinity 1725: BWV 168 164 79 Liturgical year 1725–26: BWV 110 57 151 28 16 32 13 72 146 43 39 88 170 187 45 102 35 17 19 27 47 169 56 49 98 55 52 1727: BWV 82 84 34 173
Later and other	Picander cycle: BWV 149 188 197a 171 156 159 145 174 Late parodies: BWV 36 30 191 200 248 (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) 1083 Council election (Leipzig): BWV 119 193 29 120 69 (lost: 1139.1, 1140–1141) Wedding: BWV 34a 195 120a 197 Funeral: 157 244a Other: 194 190a 120b 51 158 50 Doubtful: 53 142 189 217 220 221 223 224
Bach cantata List of Bach cantatas Discography: Monteverdi Choir/Koopman/Teldec

This page was last edited on 3 April 2024, at 14:52

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