J.S. Bach / Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? BWV 8 (Herreweghe)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Cantata BWV 8: Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? (24 September 1724)
1. Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? (Chorus)
2. Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen (Aria: T) 06:40
3. Zwar fühlt mein schwaches Herz (Recitative: A) 10:25
4. Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen! (Aria: B) 11:19
5. Behalte nur, o Welt, das Meine! (Recitative: S) 16:05
6. Herrscher über Tod und Leben (Chorale) 17:08
Soloists:
Soprano: Deborah York
Alto: Ingeborg Danz
Tenor: Mark Padmore
Bass: Peter Kooy
Collegium Vocale Gent performs under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe. Recorded by Harmonia Mundi France in 1998.
"'Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?' was completed on 24 September 1724. For a performance in Bach's later years the work was transposed from E major to D major, which resulted in a number of minor changes. [The version here is the one in E major.] Caspar Neumann's chorale melody appears in an expressively ornamented form in the opening chorus, but in comparison with most of the other chorale-cantatas, this choral writing is conspicuously simple. Bach makes one of the lines of the chorale -- 'Meine Zeit läuft immer hin' -- the point of departure for an atmospherically extremely dense musical depiction. The main weight of the opening movement lies in the unusually expansive instrumental ritornelli, for which Bach has devised an extraordinary 'pictorial' sound texture. Over an unremitting quaver movement in the muted strings, the musical equivalent of the time continuum, two oboes d'amore unfurl a constantly varied ritornello theme, which stands for the idea of fleeting time. They are joined by a piccolo whose repeated notes are a stylised representation of the death bell. In the sharpest imaginable contrast to the elegiac serenity of the opening chorus, the following aria, 'Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen', is an expressively highly charged, rhythmically and melodically driven piece that captures the anguished tension before the moment of death. An accompanied recitative leads into the bass aria in which the fear of death appears to change into the certitude of a better life. In a variety of ways Bach reaches back to the opening chorus, where, as here, a rocking 12/8 time sets the tone of a restful, pastoral gesture, and even in the bass aria the solo flute plays a significant role." - Thomas Seedorf
Painting: A Visit (detail), Carl Spitzweg
I can never listen to Bach without crying yet it can get me up in the morning. There is need for any more explanations, those that love Bach know what I mean. He is the ultimate and most sublime of any composer.
Agree
^
@@Nooticus What is your reply Nooti? I would love to know.
@@katherinewyatt9585 He/She points to the comment above. Agree.
I can't agree with you more!! Who needs therapy or antidepressants when there is Bach. A joy to play--even more of a joy to listen to. I tell my students: "There's Bach-------and there's everyone else!" And, I DO love everybody else for the most part but he is in a different league all together!
Bach is the most genius of music ever. I lover every brilliant composer, but there is no one as JS Bach.
How is it that this 17th century genius still hold us spellbound
still .... you ment 4EVER ....
Nothing in Bach is simple - it just sounds that way. ("There is one art, no more, no less; to do all things with artlessness" - Piet Hein) The flute is not a bird call. Each time it plays, it sounds the same pitch 24 times. When local residents died in Bach's time and place, bells tolled 24 times to mark the death. Listen also to how the accompaniment in the 1st movement mimics the ticking of a clock, and how suddenly the first movement ends. Life is transient, Bach is telling us.
You nailed it. In the greatest of Bach's works (and like this Cantata) there is much more in the music than just music. He knew exactly how to combine so many things into an 18 minute Cantata. Thank you.
Interesting, but 3 days ago, during a walk in my little town (France) I heard a bird just singing this repeated note, nothing else and for quite a long time ! I did not think of counting his note, but next time, I will!
@@christinecharpentier2999 Hopefully, for your sake, it will just be 23 notes :)
Sicuramente l'ostinato del basso continuo e' il rintocco di campana funebre
JSBach portava i bambini del Thomanerchor a cantare ai funerali I componenti del coro erano 24 Gli ha voluto dire che il tempo scorre inesorabile anche per loro
Ich will nicht wissen wann ich sterben werde. Gott ritte mich von jener Kenntnis. Leben ist schon leidvoll genug!
Yes life can be horrendously difficult but hopefully it can be balanced by that which we find beautiful. For me it is music and the ability to play the most wonderful piano music. Brahms Bach Rachmaninoff Beethoven - the list goes on. Also art and architecture. Life is full of amazing things - knowledge people. I'd like to know what makes you happy. K
Bach confronts our mortality and makes its burden bearable.
Nature has no morality.
J.S.BACH ist für mich der größte,feinfühligste,sensibelste,weiseste.Wenn ich Bach höre dann glaube ich mich bereits im Himmel zu wissen..
Ja, der Himmel ist zumindest nicht mehr so weit entfernt.
I don't speak german very well, but I think I understand what you are saying. I commented some years ago about another cantata that I love (Vergnugte Ruh BWV 170) that if it is not playing in heaven then I don't want to go there. I love that so many have commented on this wonderful music in so many different languages. Bach speaks for all humanity, and hopefully one day the vast bulk of it can all catch up and realise the value of this music. It is unbelievably beautiful.
@@bachlover99 Thank you for your deep words. The music that touches us brings us closer to the divine, and certainly Bach's music is one of them.
Dieser Meinung schliesse ich mich vollkommen an! Es sind unvergleichbare Meisterwerke und man kann nie aufhören zu hören ...
Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?
DIESES LEBEN IST KEIN LEBEN MEHR
How beautiful! I can now deal with life
I feel the same about so much of Bach's music. It is unearthly yet it binds me to this life - it enables me to live in this world and to go about the business of life. Thank you for your words.
Absolutely!!!
Quelle beauté et quelle interprétation magnifiquement réussie. Merci Philippe Herreweghe.
Quel belle musique à écouter surtout le soir sa relaxe avent de dormir
I really don't think organized sound gets any better than this opening chorus.
Agree! It is perfect.
Bach is utter perfection
This is one of the most beautiful pieces of Bach's music I've ever heard. This is the first time I've ever heard it. The opening chorus with the repeating notes of the flute is so affective. For me, Bach is the greatest composer that has ever lived. He shows us heaven through his music.
Bach is absolutely the greatest composer ever. How unbelieveble that he wrote down his music he just heared in his head and soul and that it all sounds more than perfect, even like heaven and touch you so much, so deep.. I hope to meet him at last as the chiefmusician in heaven.
The "Liebster Gott" chorus is timeless. There's nothing like it anywhere. It is unearthly, eternal, the intangible stuff from dreams and the mysterious hypnogogic realm of the spirit. The endless universe is in Bach's music.
yup
"Mysterious hypnogogic realm of the spirit"... nicely said. "Neptune" may be another word for that realm.
I discovered this beautiful cantata only a week ago - how could I have missed it! Your words say it all. Thank you.
My non-believing father said that he would not want to die if only for the sake of hearing Bach. I do hope that Bach himself was right and that this life is only a bridge to our eternities. His music persuades me of this more than all possible words.
No podría vivir sin Bach.
I'm in another world when i hear Bach, and this one is georgeous.
Linda cantata de Bach:" Deus amado, quando morrerei?". O coro de abertura com o som de dois oboés conversando com as cordas e a flauta. Os sinos da morte do movimento de abertura soam nas notas do oboé. Essa cantata expressa esse momento de contemplação diante da morte. Maravilhosa! Bach é Bach .
Linda cantata amigo Mauricio Furlan!
...sublime ! Ah, cette palpitation, ce dialogue des flûtes, dans l'apaisement d'une "balade" en ce jardin qu'on nomme Paradis !
This Cantata, I may have found his best yet, it really sounds like a wistful dream, a fantasy land, completely surreal and magical. What a treat.
Utterly sublime masterwork by the incomparable Bach. Thank you so much Philippe Herreweghe for the glory days of the Collegium Vocale Gent.
A miracle - this cantata. Sublime !!!! I am a Bach lover since childhood, Now in 80s. No music greater to play on the organ, alone at night in a dark and empty church.... JSB, the organ, me and God... The first time I have heard this BWV 8 !!! And note the blackbird... aka 'death' ??? there running against the triple metre in a duple metre... won't leave.... not threatening... just ever present.. hovering... but maybe its the Bach's cuckoo clock...
Uwielbiam Bacha
To me this one of the loveliest of Bach's cantatas, because the opening movement is so wonderfully simple, naive, and childlike.
C'est juste la représentation d'une brillante et épique pièce de musique. Le dialogue ici est comme si nous parlions de l'interprétation correcte de l'Écriture. Ce que nous avons ici est une performance flamboyante, bien exécutée, bien pensée et émotionnellement sensible
Beautiful collection. Multilayered, a lot of things happening at the same time, but still a peaceful end result. All glory to God - that's probably what Bach would say.
Bach is much more than music
The repeated note motif of the flute matches the art work perfectly!
Now I confirm my foreboding. Millions of people enjoy Bach´s music. It´s the foyer of Heavens. THANKS!!!!!!!!
Andres: "the foyer of Heaven"--I love that!
I love that expression too... Greetings from Germany...
Explaining complexity in clear understandable terms: the mark of genius.
I wish this was on spotify!
Hemelse muziek....the best!
Unfolds such a cornucopia of unanticipated beauties like waking to birdsong.
This sound appears to me the most correct I've heard thus far with respect to cantata 8 especially this most delightful, blissful, and joyous first movement. It is if I hear Heaven calling me to eternal rest.
Magnifique projet que le votre de ressusciter les œuvres de Bach !
Gewoon zeer mooi ! Herreweghe got the right spirit there !!!
Et cette impression sublime d'apesanteur...
I just knew the Cantata, thus listened to an aria " Doch weichet ,ihn trollen vergiblichen sorgen" about 30 times this weekend...I'm happy to have found it here in youtube.
Awesome spirituel!🎼🎶👏🙏🍀🍁
1.Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? (0:00)
2.Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen (6:41)
3.Zwar fuhlt mein schwaches Herz Furcht (10:25)
4.Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen! (11:20)
5.Behalte nur, o Welt, das Meine! (16:07)
6.Herrscher über Tor und Leben (17:11)
A joyful sadness.
Like contentment, or the feeling one experiences when they realize they have come to terms with suicide. The pain of life is suspended, and the glory of what lies beyond is within view, but the uncertainty and innate fear of death persists. The clock ticks...ticks...ticks...waiting for hope, a way out, or the end to draw near. That's what I see.
Not quite like "Komm, süßer Tod", which is much more tragic and miserable.
Excellente interprétation
the opening chorus is one of musics miracles.
dzięki Bachowi i Philippe człowiek przestaje się bać śmierci
Ongelofelijk. Goddelijk. Synoniemen zoeken en vinden doen afbreuk aan het niveau van deze muziek. Leve Bach. Dit haalt bijna het niveau van de h moll Messe. Bijna :-)
...God has been enjoying before and after he sent JSB down to earth....
„ Meer sollte er heißen“ ( He should be called Sea) as Beethoven said.
RDS
A late friend of mine, who was an organist, music teacher, choir master, and organ consultant, put this on at an Episcopal Church in 1967 when he was a student at the University of Minnesota. He became a choir director when he was still in high school. I like it, but it's not one of Bach's best known cantatas.
I bought some good USB speakers and connected them to my I-Mac. Now I have good sound for this sort of thing, but I still need to add a subwoofer.
It is JSB! not USB
It seems to me that the two great spiritual composers are Bach and Beethoven. The difference is that Bach concentrates the Infinite in his music, Beethoven expands his music to fill the infinite. All great composers create cosmic music but not, perhaps, so frequently as Bach and Beethoven, who stand at the very forefront of human achievement.
@Frans Delt Beethoven had great merit but I agree with you Frans, he's not in the same class as Bach, nowhere near.
@@abirdthatflew Nowhere near, right!!!
i play this when i am in an especially happy mood
This is my FAVOURITE cantata.
+John Wascavage Mine too
Yes, it's a wonderful cantata, which on a very comparable theme, is in total contrast from 106, Actus Tragicus ! it used to be face B of the Magnificat in DGG, both directed by Karl Richter (slower tempo than this very nice performance)
Me too! But for me the best interprétation is Kart Richter's one, with the best tempo, not so fast. This is not barock music
This cantata is amazing
zo mooi...wanneer zal ik sterven ?...dank u liefste god...
Thanks for uploading. I had been looking for this version, which I had lost, for ages. I think I heard 'Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen' about 5 thousand times as a young lad, and I'm doing it again.
When I listen to Bach, I have to suspend my unbelief.
Put it this way: you believe, but you forget it when beauty is not present. Pretty much the same happens to me.
@@kerlmit1 Cool; 'belief' is the default, and forgetfulness is aberrant.
Since God is the Beauty itself, when you listen to a beautiful song, you contemplate God. Further than Beauty, Baroque music has Order, which is another attribute of God. You probably have a sensible perception of reality as you suspend your unbelief when listening to Bach. Try also to pay attention to the nature, the wind, the trees and animals. Pay attention of how your beloved ones just work, you can do this with minimal things, like drinking water or just walking. You’’ll see that in order to accept the perfection in Creatures, there must be perfection in God, the Creator. Perfection doesn’t come from nothing. I hope you understand :) Salve Maria
@@lucasslash1000 Beautifully said
Music made in Heaven, wonderfully played and sung.Thankyou
Its so beautiful
Heel mooi en lief uitgevoerd. Klinkt machtig. Dankjewel, Lutje
De vez em sempre eu retorno aqui.
SO BEAUTIFUL ! THANK YOU FOR POSTING 💖🎶😇💖
The singin of a bird!
Now we know what the birds say when they're praising to God ;)
It refers to time: the clock's tik-tak
@@martaschmidt9535 Neither. It's the Totenglöcklein, the death bell.
Outstanding music.
This was just the very thing I needed right now. I am so thankful for finding this clip, thank you for uploading it!
Fantastic...beautiful!thank you...
Bach does the most unexpected in the most expected place
Amazing!
Yes the clock ticking its perfect
Pamela Duggan wow
1. Chor
Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?
Meine Zeit läuft immer hin,
Und des alten Adams Erben,
Unter denen ich auch bin,
Haben dies zum Vaterteil,
Daß sie eine kleine Weil
Arm und elend sein auf Erden
Und denn selber Erde werden.
("Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?" verse 1)
1. Chorus
Dearest God, when will I die?
My time runs away continually,
and the old legacy of Adam,
which includes me as well,
has this as its inheritance;
for a little time
to be poor and wretched on the earth
and then to become earth itself.
2. Arie T
Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen,
Wenn meine letzte Stunde schlägt?
Mein Leib neigt täglich sich zur Erden,
Und da muß seine Ruhstatt werden,
Wohin man so viel tausend trägt.
2. Aria T
Why should you recoil, my spirit,
when my last hour strikes?
My body bows itself daily to the earth,
and there must my resting-place be,
to which so many thousand are borne.
3. Recitativ A
Zwar fühlt mein schwaches Herz
Furcht, Sorge, Schmerz:
Wo wird mein Leib die Ruhe finden?
Wer wird die Seele doch
Vom aufgelegten Sündenjoch
Befreien und entbinden?
Das Meine wird zerstreut,
Und wohin werden meine Lieben
In ihrer Traurigkeit
Zertrennt, vertrieben?
3. Recitative A
Indeed my weak heart feels
fear, worry, pain:
where will my body find rest?
Who will yet
from its overlaid burden of sin
release and free my soul?
All that is mine will be destroyed,
and what will become of my loved ones,
in their grief
cut off, exiled?
4. Arie B
Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen!
Mich rufet mein Jesus: wer sollte nicht gehn?
Nichts, was mir gefällt,
Besitzet die Welt.
Erscheine mir, seliger, fröhlicher Morgen,
Verkläret und herrlich vor Jesu zu stehn.
4. Aria B
But hence, you foolish, useless worries!
My Jesus calls me: who wouldn't go?
Nothing that delights me
belongs to the world.
Dawn on me, blessed, joyful morning,
transfigured and glorious, standing before Jesus.
5. Recitativ S
Behalte nur, o Welt, das Meine!
Du nimmst ja selbst mein Fleisch und mein Gebeine,
So nimm auch meine Armut hin;
Genug, daß mir aus Gottes Überfluß
Das höchste Gut noch werden muß,
Genug, daß ich dort reich und selig bin.
Was aber ist von mir zu erben,
Als meines Gottes Vatertreu?
Die wird ja alle Morgen neu
Und kann nicht sterben.
5. Recitative S
Keep then, o world, my possessions!
You take indeed my flesh and my bones,
so take also these poor belongings;
it is enough, that from God's abundance
the greatest good must come to me,
enough, that I shall be rich and happy there.
What else is there to inherit from me,
other than the fatherly love of my God?
This is renewed every morning
and can never die.
6. Choral
Herrscher über Tod und Leben,
Mach einmal mein Ende gut,
Lehre mich den Geist aufgeben
Mit recht wohlgefaßtem Mut.
Hilf, daß ich ein ehrlich Grab
Neben frommen Christen hab
Und auch endlich in der Erde
Nimmermehr zuschanden werde!
("Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?" verse 5)
6. Chorale
Sovereign over death and life,
make my end a good one,
teach me to resign my spirit
with a well-composed courage.
Help, that I might have an honorable grave
next to righteous Christians
and also at last, in the earth,
nevermore be dishonored!
"Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?" Kaspar Neumann (before 1697) (verse 1, mov't 1; verses 2-4, source for mov'ts. 2-5; verse 5, mov't. 6)
Excellent performance.
ADORO BACH❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤MILIONI DI❤PER BACH❤GRANDE AMORE MIO❤
bwv8:4 track.. beautiful beautiful flute
Thank you for sharing this.
Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen! is the best
leads us to contemplate the Infinite
the peeping of the flute is quite birdlike, so I understand the picture. But when I first saw it, I thought of Poe's raven...
+mrnnhnz
To me it looks like an Aussie magpie attracted by the sound of the beautiful music, and hoping for a piece of cheese!
nevermind...
Sublime 💙
Bach = the voice of God............
Without a doubt this is so true
Here everyone is scolded immediately, who understands the flutes in the entrance choir as a bird song instead of a death bell. Maybe this is simply Bach's intention: The orchestral accompaniment sounds like a paradisiac idyll with its string pizzicato, like the "Scene by the Bach" from Beethoven's Pastorale! Maybe both are meant: both the death bells and the birds singing in paradise.
Hier wird sofort jeder gescholten, der die Flöten im Eingangschor als Vogelgesang statt als Totenglöckchen versteht. Vielleicht ist das schlicht Bachs Absicht: Die Orchesterbegleitung klingt mit seinem Streicherpizzicato wie eine paradiesische Idylle, wie die "Szene am Bach" aus Beethovens Pastorale! Vielleicht ist beides gemeint: Sowohl die Todesglocken als auch die Vögel, die im Paradies singen.
You're thinking too literally about figures. If the association is there (and I think it is, for example, in the Spitzweg painting above, where a little bird visits an aged scholar in his lonely study), then figure can refer to figure. Death knell, birdsong or, most literally, here, the ticking of the clock -- it's all one. Each is a figure of time passing.
ALABADO SEA JESUCRISTO
Santo João Sebastião Bach
I like the blockflute. It's like a bird singing. Maybe Bach had heard the bird outside while writing this wonderful piece of Music? :-)
Sorry, it refers to the clock not to the birds
i guess it is not a recorder what we hear but a traverso !!
it is the clock of time ticking
Pierre Meersschaert agree
I am absolutely convinced that this recording is on Eb Major.
A=415Hz. E=Eflat.
The King .
Helemaal niet triest, mooi. Dankjewel, Lutje
Even though it’s in E major, baroque tuning makes it sound E-flat major
I need some peace I my life
Be blessed with Jesus peace.
how can you maske music from 100 years age very nice
Saturated with Music.
Querido Dios, ¿cuándo moriré?
Even Bach had to start somewhere :P
And this isn't where he started.
This makes me think of the savanna in Africa
11:20 Auch hier, welch "paradiesische" Flöte!
Cлава Богу!
Roughly translated, can it be "Dear Lord, when will be my last hour?"
the flute is supposed to symbolize the death bell that rings through town when someone dies
... the birds try as hard as they can.
Art, or construction.
...or both.
... and then interpretation.
The repeated piccolo notes high above everything else in the 1st movement are too quick to represent funeral bells, and the style is far from funereal. They are better seen as the ticking of life's clock, as the poet asks "how much longer have I got?"
+STEPHEN TRAHAIR you can hear the ticking of the clock in the pizzacato stings, I think the notes of the flauto traverso are the ringing of the clock, but not especially the funeral bells. Notice that nearly every block with the same high notes of the traverso consist 24 notes: this can stand for the 24 hours in a day. Otherwise, in the time this 24 notes are played, the strings have 12 notes. whereby, every 2 notes of the traverso seems to belong together. So I think, every time it represent ringing 12 o'clock, with portrays the days that are floating. ("Meine Zeit läuft immer hin"=My time runs away continually) On some times, there are not 24, but 25 notes. I think that 25th note stand for the end of the lifetime of a person, also the piece ends with a 25th note in a new bar (it's a time-signature of 12/8).
Thank you both for your comments, which are very interesting - I'm sure you're right. Jonathan's analysis suggests an intricacy in Bach's thinking which is breathtaking. What a wonderful piece!
STEPHEN TRAHAIR www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/BachsBells.pdf
If Bach’s representations of these Sterbe- or Totenglöcklein can be trusted to be literally what they sounded like, then we have a possible conflict between a single high-pitched flauto piccolo playing 245 semiquavers (16th notes) in a row at the same pitch in the opening chorus/chorale of the early, original version of BWV 8 (“Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben”) and BWV 198 (“Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl”) mvt. 4, Recitativo: “Der Glocken bebendes Getön” which adds a flauto traverso II playing a third below the flauto traverso I, both of which are playing repeated semiquavers (16th notes) at the same pitch.
The former (BWV 8/1) would then imply a single, high-pitched bell, while the latter (BWV 198/4) could indicate that there were two high-pitched bells (possibly one in the tower of St. Thomas Church, the other at a slightly different high pitch at the St. Nicholas Church).6
"Beloved Lord, when am I going to die" in this context is a question asked by a Christian who wants to pass away in order to leave this terrible world behind and enter the kingdom of God. The piccolo note rather represents joyful impatience.
@@jonathanvalk726 Excellent observation.
Quel compositeur dit que Bach devrait s'appeler Fluss (ou Strom), jeu de mot pour ruisseau et fleuve ?
C'est Beethoven qui a dit ça. 'Nicht Bach, sondern Meer sollte er heißen...'
@@scrymgeour34 merci😊
name of the painting?
A Visit by Carl Spitzweg
Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?
?
DIESES LEBEN IST KEIN LEBEN MEHR
Die Arie "Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen" ist viel zu schnell gespielt. 1). Kann man das weder dem Flötisten noch dem Sänger antun und 2). wird das nur Gehuddel