Bach, a Funeral and the Lamb of God:
Notes on recent research on BWV 106

Markus Rathey

Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous Actus tragicus, cantata No. 106 “Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit,” is one of his most popular compositions. The dichotomy between old life in mortality and new life with Christ is translated into music in an expressive juxtaposition of old and new musical styles, of sharp chromaticism and soothing hymn tunes. The use of styles and genres (for example the fact that there are no modern arias) led Bach researchers to the assumption that the piece must have been composed for a funeral in Bach’s early years, probably in Mühlhausen, where the young composer worked between 1707 and 1708. More is not known, since the earliest sources for the wonderful piece date from the late eighteenth century and provide no evidence for the dating of the cantata. Several occasions have been suggested, e.g. the funeral for one of Bach’s uncles, or the funeral for the sister of one of the pastors in Mühlhausen. However, these datings are based only on the fact that Bach was somehow acquainted with the deceased; we do not have any supporting evidence. Why is it important to know why and when Bach composed the piece? The cantata is one of Bach’s earliest works, dating from a time when his style was in the course of rapid development. An exact dating of the piece would help us understand Bach’s artistic development in his early twenties. Furthermore, knowing the actual context of the piece would lead us to a better understanding of the character and the shape of the composition. The leading hypothesis for my own research on the piece was: If the Actus tragicus was composed for Mühlhausen, a study of the funeral sermons published between 1707 and 1709 could give a clue to the occasion for the composition of the piece I was able to find a sermon that shows a strong connection with the text of the text of Cantata 106. In 1708 Adolph Strecker was elected burgomaster of Mühlhausen, but after a few months the old man got sicker and eventually died in September 1708. The funeral sermon points out that Strecker prepared himself for his death, reading religions literature about the Lutheran ars moriendi, the art of dying, which is the very type of literature the texts of the Actus tragicus are compiled from. Furthermore, Strecker asked his pastor to preach on Rom 8:18: “I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” The sermon, delivered by the Mühlhausen Superintendent Frohne, emphasizes in particular the tension between old life in mortality and new life with Christ, the very tension that also shapes the text of Bach’s Actus tragicus. This juxtaposition is, of course, not unusual in a funeral context, but the connection goes beyond this general similarity. The first arioso of the tenor in BWV 106, “Lord, teach us to count our days” (Ps. 90:12) was interpreted by Johann Johann Olearius in his Biblischen Erklärung (Explanation of the Bible, 1678-1681), one of the most important Bible interpretations of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, with a reference to the text from Rom 8 Strecker had picked for his funeral. There was, obviously, a connection between the texts of Bach’s cantata and Strecker’s text in the practice of biblical interpretation of that time. If Strecker was indeed the dedicatee for the Actus tragicus, this would explain the large-scaled dimensions of the cantata, which goes beyond the simple song-like pieces that were normally composed for funerals. Strecker was held in high esteem and was one of the leading politicians of the city. Bach had already composed his cantata BWV 71, “Gott ist mein König,” written for the introduction of the new town council in February 1708, as an homage to Strecker, who is mentioned in the text of the cantata several times. Since Strecker was lying on his deathbed for months before he died, Bach would have had the time and opportunity to prepare for the funeral and to compose a complex work like the Actus tragicus––time he would not have had if the piece had been intended for his uncle, who lived 35 miles away. Bach left Mühlhausen in June 1708, but he stayed in contact with the city in the following years, composing the cantatas for the introduction of the town council in 1709 and supervising the renovation of the organ. These strong connections make it likely that he also provided the composition for the funeral of one of the most highly venerated politicians in the city. The Actus tragicus was, hence, most likely composed for September 16, 1708. During my research on Bach’s time in Mühlhausen I stumbled upon another interesting source. The same superintendent Frohne who provided the funeral sermon for Strecker also published a small booklet early in 1708, containing descriptions of some extraordinary feast days in the city in 1708. Frohne lists a series of sermons given by pastors from the suburbs in one of the city’s main churches (and it was Bach’s duty to play on these occasions); furthermore, he lists four days of repentance the churches of the city had to observe that year. Most of them are too late for a participation of Bach, but one is on Good Friday, 1708. Could Bach have composed or performed a special piece on that occasion? The liturgical laws in Mühlhausen were very strict and forbade vocal-instrumental pieces like a cantata. Only motet-like vocal pieces were allowed. But there is one piece that would fit perfectly into this context. Bach’s Kyrie in F major (BWV 233a), a small piece for choir, has a strange combination of musical material that has not yet been explained by musicologists. The text of the lower voices is based on the liturgical Kyrie, but the upper voice has the text and the melody of the German Agnus dei “Christe, du Lamm Gottes” (Christ, lamb of God). Finally, the melody of the bass voice is a quotation from the Kyrie of the Lutheran Litany. If Bach tried to deliver a message by layering the three musical and textual quotations, so that this combination of three layers is not merely haphazard or a game, Good Friday 1708 would be the perfect occasion for this layering. The Kyrie was part of the liturgy, the hymn “Christe, du Lamm Gottes” would reflect the fact of its being Good Friday, and the quotation of the Litany, the liturgical piece that was traditionally part of the repentance services in Mühlhausen, would then reflect the fact that it was a day of repentance. When we see how skillfully Bach layers hymns and biblical and liturgical texts in other compositions from his time in Mühlhausen (like in the abovementioned cantatas 106 and 71), and how he synthesizes a new meaning from this combination, then it is more than likely that the combination in the Kyrie in F major also has a meaning, and there is no other occasion in Bach’s early years where this meaning would fit better in a liturgical context than on Good Friday 1708. Indeed, this piece would work well in a Good Friday service today, with a sermon pointing out the intertwining of acclamation (Kyrie), supplication (Litany), and the adoration of the Lamb of God. This short overview has focused on two of the several results of my research which were published recently in the German Bach-Jahrbuch (Vol. 92, p. 65–92). Other aspects of that article are the dating of cantatas 131 and 150, and some other possible occasions between 1707 and 1708 for which Bach might have composed pieces that are now lost.

from: PRISM, 2006 november vol xv · no 3

Dick Wursten (dick@wursten.be)