Bach wrote the chorale cantata in his second year in Leipzig to conclude a set of Christmas cantatas on the Feast of Epiphany. The prescribed readings for the feast day were taken from the Book of Isaiah, the heathen will convert (Isaiah 60:1–6), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the Wise Men From the East bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus (Matthew 2:1–12). The cantata text is based on the chorale in six stanzas by Ahasverus Fritsch (1679). The unknown poet kept the first and the last stanza, and paraphrased the inner stanzas to a sequence of as many recitatives and arias. The text has no specific reference to the readings, but mentions the term Jesusname (name of Jesus), reminiscent of the naming of Jesus celebrated on 1 January. The poet inserts "Heil und Licht" (salvation and light) as a likely reference to the Epiphany, and alludes to Christmas by "Jesus, der ins Fleisch gekommen" (Jesus who came into flesh). Otherwise the cantata text follows the idea of the chorale: hate and rejection in the world cannot harm those who believe.
Librettist | Ahasverus Fritsch (1629-1701) (Nos.1, 6) Anonymous (Nos.2-5) |
Date of composition | 1725 |
Premiered | 1725, January 6th in Leipzig, Germany |
First published | 1878 (BGA) |
Dedicated to | Epiphany |
Type | Sacred Cantata |
Tonality | B Minor |
Catalogue | BWV 123 |
Spoken language | German |
Instruments |
3x
Voice
Chorus/Choir Orchestra |
Links | |
Autotranslations beta |
Jean-Sébastien Bach: Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen en si mineur, BWV 123 Johann Sebastian Bach: Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen in si minore, BWV 123 Johann Sebastian Bach: Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen h-moll, BWV 123 |