| Fürchte dich nicht | |
|---|---|
BWV 228 | |
| Funeral motet byJ. S. Bach | |
 | |
| English | Do not fear |
| Bible text | |
| Chorale | Warum sollt ich mich denn grämen byPaul Gerhardt |
| Movements | 2 |
| Vocal | Double choirSATB |
Fürchte dich nicht (Do not fear),[1]BWV 228,[a] is amotet for a funeral byJohann Sebastian Bach, set for double chorus. The work in two movements draws its text from theBook of Isaiah and ahymn byPaul Gerhardt. Scholars disagree about the composition time and place which was traditionally believed to be 1726 in Leipzig, while more recent scholarship suggests for stylistic reasons that it was composed earlier during the years Bach lived inWeimar.
Bach composed the work for a funeral.[2] His motets were written in the tradition of theEvangelienmotetten (motets on gospel text) of the 17th century by composers such asMelchior Franck,Melchior Vulpius andHeinrich Schütz. When he composed his motets, works without contemporary poetry and without an independent orchestra, the genre was already out of fashion.[3] However, there was evidently a demand for such works at funerals, a ceremony for which at least some of Bach's other motets were written.[b]
As the original score has not survived, the work can not be dated with certainty. Traditionally, scholars believed that Bach composedFürchte dich nicht for a funeral in Leipzig in 1726.[4] Stylistic comparison with other works such asIch lasse dich nicht, BWV Anh. 159, suggests that Bach wrote it already in hisWeimar period (1708–1717).[5]
The text includes no contemporary poetry, as many of hiscantatas andpassions do, but purely biblical quotations andchorale, as in other motets by Bach and his models.The text is combined from two verses byIsaiah,Isaiah 41:10 andIsaiah 43:1, both beginning with "Fürchte dich nicht". The second verse is combined with two stanzas ofPaul Gerhardt'shymn "Warum sollt ich mich denn grämen".[4][6] Bach would have known a motet on the first verse by Isaiah composed byJohann Christoph Bach.[5]
Bach structured the work in two movements and scored it for double chorus,SATB – SATB and unspecified instruments playingcolla parte.[5][7]
In the following table of the movements, thekeys andtime signatures are taken from the score, using the symbol for common time (4/4).
| No. | Title | Text | Type | Vocal | Instruments | Key | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir | Isaiah 41:10 | Chorus | SATB–SATB | unspecified | A major |  |
| 2 |
|
| Fugue with chorale |
| unspecified | A major | |
The first verse by Isaiah is the text for the first movement. In the second movement, the second verse by Isaiah is set as afugue of the three lower voices, and juxtaposed with the chorale by Gerhardt, sung by the soprano.[1] The lower voices are set in adouble fugue, with the subject derived from the beginning of the chorale melody, and thecounter subject aninversion.[5] Thechromatic theme is reminiscent ofthe final aria of Bach’s cantata for solo altoWiderstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54. At one point there is also a strong textual correspondence of biblical quotation and hymn. The conductorJohn Eliot Gardiner points out that "the biblical 'Ich habe dich bei deinem Namen gerufen' (I have called thee by thy name) leads climactically to the hymn-line 'Ich bin dein, weil du dein Leben ... [gegeben]' (I am thine, for thou hast given thy life).[5]The movement ends with a recapitulation of the music from movement 1 for double choir on the final line of the second psalm verse.[4]
Fürchte dich nicht has often been recorded with other motets by Bach. These recorded sets of motets are partially listed atMotets by Johann Sebastian Bach, discography.
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