This famous cantata was composed and performed for the first time for the feast of the Purification of Mary, on February 2, 1727, which is celebrated forty days after the birth of Jesus. The date also represents the first presentation of Jesus in the temple.
The gospel of that Sunday (Luke 2: 22-32) tells the story of the presentation of Jesus in the temple, and includes the prayer of Simeon, to whom the Holy Spirit had revealed that he would not die without having seen the Savior of Israel. Seeing Jesus, Simeon offers a prayer (“Lord, let your servant go in peace, according to your word”).
Clearly, this cantata was highly regarded by Bach. It exists in four different versions (two for bass, one for soprano and one for alto) and was performed on multiple occasions during the composer’s lifetime. Some fragments were transcribed to the «Clavierbüchlein», keyboard tutor for Anna Magdalena, Bach’s second wife.
The cantata has a relatively simple orchestration: a single solo voice (bass, in the first version), a solo instrument that accompanies the arias (oboe), strings, and continuo. In the soprano version, the oboe was replaced by flute. The libretto, long considered anonymous, is now attributed to Christoph Birkmann, like several other cantatas from this period.
Simeon’s prayer is, in paraphrased form, the first aria of the cantata. The solo oboe, on a texture of strings reminiscent of a caress, opens with an ascending sixth, a musical figure that appears associated with several other texts that express longing for death. This motif is repeated in the voice entrance.
The second movement is a recitative that mentions Simeon and exhorts the congregation to follow him, with a small arioso fragment representing walking. As expected, the words “mit Freuden” are illustrated with a melisma in the voice.
The following aria, the central movement of the cantata, is a consummate example of a Baroque rhetorical device known as the “slumber aria.” It is long, unhurried and with a complex formal structure, with the strings in low tessitura weaving a support structure for the voice. Some versions of the cantata add an “oboe da caccia” doubling the first violin to the instrumental warp.
The second recitative gives urgency to the arrival of “beautiful now”, and closes with an arioso on the words “world, good night!”.
In typical Lutheran speech, the closing aria is a celebration of death. With a rhythmic and lively instrumental line, including solo oboe, the voice opens with a lengthy melisma on the words “freue mich” (“I’ll rejoice”) and then descends into the depths on “Tod” (“death”) in a great display of word-painting.
