| Ich bin ein guter Hirt | |
|---|---|
BWV 85 | |
| Church cantata byJ. S. Bach | |
 | |
| Occasion | Second Sunday afterEaster |
| Bible text | John 10:11 |
| Chorale |
|
| Performed | 14 April 1725 (1725-04-14):Leipzig |
| Movements | 6 |
| Vocal | SATB solo and choir |
| Instrumental |
|
Ich bin ein guter Hirt (I am a Good Shepherd),[1]BWV 85, is achurch cantata byJohann Sebastian Bach. He composed it inLeipzig for the second Sunday afterEaster and first performed it on 15 April 1725. He wrote the cantata in his second year of his tenure asThomaskantor that began in 1723, but it is not achorale cantata, and he later assigned it to histhird cantata cycle.
An unknownlibrettist included a verse from the Gospel reading and twohymnstanzas, one from "Ist Gott mein Schild und Helfersmann" by Ernst Christoph Homberg and one from "Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt" byCornelius Becker. Bach structured the cantata in sixmovements and scored it for four vocal soloists, afour-part choir only in the closing chorale, and aBaroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo.
Bach composedIch bin ein guter Hirt in 1724, in his second year as Thomaskantor inLeipzig, for the second Sunday afterEaster calledMisericordias Domini which fell on 15 May in 1724.[2] He had ended his chorale cantata cycle onPalm Sunday that year,[3] and later assignedIch bin ein guter Hirt to histhird cantata cycle.[2]
The prescribed readings for that Sunday were from theFirst Epistle of Peter, Christ as a model (1 Peter 2:21–25), and from theGospel of John, theGood Shepherd (John 10:11–16).[4][5]
According toJohn Eliot Gardiner, thelibrettist is likely the same as for two preceding cantatas,Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6, andAm Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42,[6] beforeChristiana Mariana von Ziegler became the poet for the following cantatas of the period.[7] The three cantata texts were probably written for Bach's first year in Leipzig, but postponed due to the workload of the first performance of theSt John Passion that year. The three cantatas form a sequence on themes from the Gospel of John.[6]
The librettist opened the cantata with the beginning of the Gospel, verse 11:Jesus describing himself as theGood Shepherd.[8] The secondmovement explains that being a Good Shepherd was realised in thePassion. The thought is commented by the firststanza ofCornelius Becker's 1598 hymn "Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt", a paraphrase ofPsalm 23.[3][2][6] The poet refers in movement 4 to verse 12 of the Gospel, the contrast of the shepherd who is awake to watch over the sheep, whereas the hired servants sleep and neglect them. Movement 5 names love as the shepherd's motivation to care for the sheep and points at the death of Jesus.[2] The cantata ends with the fourth stanza, "Ist Gott mein Schutz und treuer Hirt", of the 1658 hymn "Ist Gott mein Schild und Helfersmann" for whichErnst Christoph Homberg supplied text and melody.[2][9] All movements are closely connected to the Gospel theme. The sequence of movements is found also in the two cantatas preceding it and in other Bach cantatas, which may also have been written by the same unknown librettist.[3][2]
Bach led theThomanerchor in the first performance on 15 April 1725.[4][10]
Bach structured the cantata in six movements and scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano (S),alto (A)tenor (T) andbass (B)), afour-part choir only in the closing chorale, and aBaroque instrumental ensemble of twooboes (Ob),bassoon (Fg), twoviolins (Vl),viola (Va),cello piccolo (Vp) andbasso continuo.[11] The duration of the cantata is given as 20 minutes.[12]
In the following table of the movements, the scoring,keys andtime signatures are taken from Dürr's standard workDie Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach.[13] The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.
| No. | Title | Type | Vocal | Winds | Strings | Key | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ich bin ein guter Hirt | B | 2Ob | 2Vl Va | C minor |  | |
| 2 | Jesus ist ein guter Hirt | Aria | A | Vp | G minor | | |
| 3 | Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt | Chorale | S | 2Ob | B-flat major | 3 4 | |
| 4 | Wenn die Mietlinge schlafen | Recitative | T | 2Vl Va | | ||
| 5 | Seht, was die Liebe tut | Aria | T | 2Vl Va | E-flat major | 9 8 | |
| 6 | Ist Gott mein Schutz und treuer Hirt | Chorale | SATB | 2Ob | 2Vl Va | C minor | |
In the first movement, the bass as thevox Christi[2] sings a line from the Gospel of John, "Ich bin ein guter Hirt, ein guter Hirt läßt sein Leben für die Schafe" (I am a Good Shepherd; a good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep)[1] in two passages framed by instrumentalritornellos.[2] Themotif for the first words appears in the ritornello four times.[2][14] The movement's form is betweenaria andarioso, with the oboes asobbligato instruments in "a mood of tranquil seriousness", asKlaus Hofmann described.[8] Hans-Joachim Schulze notes that theobbligato two oboes inunison may have been planned for penetrating sharpness.[3]
The alto aria, "Jesus ist ein guter Hirt;" (Jesus is a good shepherd;),[1] is accompanied by anobbligatovioloncello piccolo.[8] The content is a reflection of the preceding Gospel words.[7] Unusually, the alto sings the full text three times,[10] with only minor variations in motifs andharmonies.[2]
The chorale stanza, "Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt" (The Lord is my faithful shepherd),[1] is sung by the soprano to the tune of "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr" byNikolaus Decius,[2] with a slightly ornamented melody, while the two oboes play a theme in the ritornellos which is derived from the first line of the tune[10] and appears inimitation.[2]
The cantata's onlyrecitative, "Wenn die Mietlinge schlafen, da wachtet dieser Hirt bei seinen Schafen" (When the hired servants sleep, then this Shepherd watches over his sheep),[1] is sung by the tenor as a miniature sermon, accompanied by the strings that play long notes and accent phrases of the text towards the end.[2][10]
The tenor aria, "Seht, was die Liebe tut" (Behold what love does),[1] is inpastorale rhythm, the cantata's only movement to relate to the shepherd theme in this way,[3][2][10] while the word "shepherd" is not mentioned.[3][10] The strings, violins and violas, play in unison in low register. Thus the tenor voice frequently appears as the highest part, beginning with "Seht" (look) three times. Gardiner observed the similarity to an alto aria (movement 60) of theSt Matthew Passion, "Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand", both in the theme of "pastoral love emanating from the cross", and in the music, described as "rich, flowing melody and gently rocking rhythm".[6]
The closing chorale, "Ist Gott mein Schutz und treuer Hirt" (If God is my Protector and faithful Shepherd),[1] is a four-part setting,[9][15] repeating that God is the faithful shepherd.[2] The movement isC minor, but Bach ended its seven cadences in amajor mode.[3]
Bach'sautograph score of the cantata and a set of parts that Bach had partly revised himself are extant.[2] The cantata was first published in 1872 in the first complete edition of Bach's work, theBach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe. The volume in question was edited byWilhelm Rust.[2][16] In theNeue Bach-Ausgabe, it was published in 1989, edited by Reinmar Emans.[2][16]
The selection is taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas Website.[17] Instrumental groups playing period instruments inhistorically informed performances are marked green.
| Title | Conductor / Choir / Orchestra | Soloists | Label | Year | Instr. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bach: Cantata 85; Cantata 151 | Anthon van der HorstDe Nederlandse BachverenigingAmsterdam Kamerorkest |
| Telefunken | 1957 (1957) | |
| J. S. Bach: Kantate BWV 85 Ich bin ein guter Hirt | Karl RistenpartChorus of the Conservatory of SarrebruckChamber Orchestra of the Saar |
| Saarländischer Rundfunk | 1960 (1960) | |
| J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 6 & BWV 19 | Hans GrischkatStuttgart Choral SocietyBach-Orchester Stuttgart | Renaissance | 1951 (1951) | ||
| Les Grandes Cantates de J. S. Bach Vol. 24 | Fritz WernerHeinrich-Schütz-Chor HeilbronnWürttembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn | Erato | 1970 (1970) | ||
| J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 7 | Nikolaus HarnoncourtTölzer KnabenchorConcentus Musicus Wien |
| Teldec | 1977 (1977) | Period |
| Die Bach Kantate Vol. 13 | Helmuth RillingGächinger KantoreiBach-Collegium Stuttgart | Hänssler | 1981 (1981) | ||
| Bach Edition Vol. 11 – Cantatas Vol. 2 | Pieter Jan LeusinkHolland Boys ChoirNetherlands Bach Collegium | Brilliant Classics | 1999 (1999) | Period | |
| Bach Cantatas Vol. 23: Arnstadt/Echternach[6] | John Eliot GardinerMonteverdi ChoirEnglish Baroque Soloists | Soli Deo Gloria | 2000 (2000) | Period | |
| J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 15 | Ton KoopmanAmsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir | Antoine Marchand | 2001 (2001) | Period | |
| J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 39 | Masaaki SuzukiBach Collegium Japan | BIS | 2007 (2007) | Period | |
| J. S. Bach: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol. 11 | Sigiswald KuijkenLa Petite Bande | YouTube | 2008 (2008) | Period |
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