View source for Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229

{{Short description|Motet by Johann Sebastian Bach}}
{{Infobox Bach composition
| title            = {{lang|de|Komm, Jesu, komm}}
| bwv              = 229
| type             = [[List of motets by Johann Sebastian Bach|Motet]]
| image            = BWV229.png
| image_upright    = 1.2
| image_caption    = Manuscript
| key              = G minor
| occasion         = Probably for a funeral
| performed        = By 1731–1732
| text             = [[Paul Thymich]]
| movements        = 2
| vocal            = 2 [[SATB|{{abbr|SATB|soprano, alto, tenor and bass}}]] choirs
}}
'''{{lang|de|Komm, Jesu, komm}}''' (Come, Jesus, come), '''{{nowrap|BWV 229}}''', is a [[List of motets by Johann Sebastian Bach|motet]] by [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], with a text by [[Paul Thymich]]. It was composed in [[Leipzig]], and received its first performance by 1731–1732.
Bach scored the motet for [[choir|double choir]]. It was probably composed for a funeral, as were others of his motets but exact dates of composition and performance are not known. It is his only motet without biblical text. He set a poem by [[Paul Thymich]], which [[Johann Schelle]] set as a funeral aria in 1684. Also unusually, the motet is not closed by a [[chorale]], but by an [[aria]] which is harmonized like a chorale.
The work has been described as having a confident, intimate and tender character, and making more use of [[Venetian polychoral style|polychorality]] (interplay of the two choirs) than [[polyphony]] (interplay of the voices). It also contains a small section of [[Fugue (music)|fugato]] set to the text 'Komm, ich will mich dir ergeben'. The theme of the text is death as the happy moment when man, tired of earthly life, can confide in [[Jesus]], who is seen as Truth and Life and the only way to eternal life.
== History ==
Very little is known about the circumstances surrounding the composition and performance of this work. It is commonly accepted that this is a funeral motet. The musicologist [[Gilles Cantagrel]] emphasizes that the work contains elements commonly present in funeral motets, such as the theme of farewell to the world, and the formula "{{lang|de|Gute Nacht|italic=no}}" (Good night) which is often found in poetry about death, as in another motet by Bach, {{lang|de|[[Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227|''Jesu, meine Freude'', BWV 227]]|italic=unset}}, which is known to be a funeral motet.{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=360}}
The text of the motet is the first and eleventh stanza of a poem by [[Paul Thymich]], professor at the [[Thomasschule zu Leipzig|Thomasschule]] of [[Leipzig]] where Bach was [[Thomaskantor]]. [[Johann Schelle]], a predecessor of Bach at this post,{{sfn|Jones|2013|p=200}} set this text for the funeral of a university professor, the philosopher and jurist [[Jakob Thomasius]] who died in 1684.{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=360}} His aria was published in 1697 in Leipzig in a collection of more than five thousand hymns, the ''Gesangbuch'' by Paul Wagner (1617–1697),{{sfn|Mathesen|1967|p=107}} of which Bach had a copy in his library. It is thought that Bach took the text for similar circumstances, and one hypothesis is that he composed the motet for the burial of {{ill|Johann Schmid (theologian)|de|Johann Schmid (Theologe)|lt=Johann Schmid}}, an eminent theologian who died in 1731.{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=361}}
Bach knew Schelle's music, which was a five-part [[Homophony|homophonic]] strophic setting.{{sfn|Melamed|2013|pp=38&ndash;39}} Bach took a different path, setting the text in two different parts for two four-part choirs. The melody of the second part, an aria, for the last lines shows similarities to Schelle's work.{{sfn|Melamed|2013|pp=38&ndash;39}}
The autograph manuscript is lost, but a copy is kept at the [[Berlin State Library]], from the hand of the scribe [[Christoph Nichelmann]], a student of Bach who left the Thomasschule in 1731–1732, thus giving the latest possible date for this work.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cascadianchorale.org/concerts/1203-in-memoriam-concert-notes.pdf |title=Notes de concert ''In Memoriam'' |access-date=2018-02-07 |archive-date=2017-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407233631/http://www.cascadianchorale.org/concerts/1203-in-memoriam-concert-notes.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Composition ==
Unlike all other Bach motets, {{lang|de|Komm, Jesu, komm}} contains no excerpts directly from the Bible, but is based solely on Thymich's poem.{{sfn|Bach Digital|2018}} His text is inspired by the [[Gospel of John]] and centred on Christ's phrase "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me". The musical atmosphere of this motet has been described as intimate and touching,{{sfn|Gardiner|2013}} with a climate of trust and appeasement.{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=361}} The [[Key (music)|key]] of [[G minor]] evokes suffering, but the motet is never tragic.{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=107}} Bach makes relatively little use of [[polyphony]], and in this motet there is a remarkable absence of a full-scale [[Fugue (music)|fugue]].{{sfn|Jones|2013|p=200}} On the other hand, he uses [[Venetian polychoral style]] more than usually. According to [[John Eliot Gardiner]], he explores the [[Responsory|responsorial]] possibilities of the two four-part choirs much further than the Venetian pioneers of polychoral writing, and the formal dialogues between two choirs in works by [[Giovanni Gabrieli]] and [[Heinrich Schütz]].{{sfn|Gardiner|2013}} The music is structured in two parts, a concerto and an aria, with the concerto subdivided in sections.
=== Concerto ===
The concerto sets the first verse of Thymich's poem. The text structures the music, both in terms of its different sections, and concerning the illustration of the text by the music. Each of the six lines of the stanza leads to a different section and musical treatment, making this part a succession of independent musical panels.{{sfn|Mathesen|1967|p=108}} The concerto is scored for eight voices in a  double chorus,{{sfn|Bach Digital|2018}} and structured in three sections of different rhythmic and general character.
The first section evokes the suffering of a person near the end of life. When weariness and weakness no longer allow the body to travel the "bitter path of life",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bach.org/education/motet-bwv-229/|title=Motet BWV 229 – Komm, Jesu, komm |year=2018|publisher=The Bach Choir of Bethlehem}}</ref> it aspires to the peace given by the encounter with Jesus. This movement is dominated by a very expressive [[minor scale]] in a triple metre.
The second section provides a contrast, by a metre in [[common time]], [[Imitation (music)|imitational]] writing and its light and trustful character in accord with the text "Come, I will give myself to you". The word {{lang|de|Komm}} (Come!) is highlighted, bouncing repeatedly  between voices and choirs, transforming this movement into a trusting call to Jesus.{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=362}}
The third section, moving in the dance rhythm of a [[menuet]],{{sfn|Gardiner|2013}} in a "climate of trusting fullness and serenity",{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=362}} is a long statement of faith, particularly emphasizing the key phrase of the motet "You are the right way, the truth and the life." This phrase is repeated no less than four times, by one choir and then by the other, on the same [[Theme (music)|musical theme]] varying with each assertion, making the motet's longest movement, as if this long moment of "lyricism and ecstasy" never wanted to end.{{sfn|Gardiner|2013}}
{|class="wikitable alternance centre"
|+ Structure of the first part{{sfn|Mathesen|1967|pp=107–119}}
!scope="col" | Section
!scope="col" | Time
!scope="col" | Form
!scope="col" | Measure
!scope="col" | German text
!scope="col" | Translation
!scope="col" | Style
|-
|rowspan="8"|1
|rowspan="8"|{{music|time|3|2}}
|rowspan="2"|A
|1—9
|{{lang|de|Komm, Jesu, komm}}
|Come, Jesus, come,
|Antiphonic
|-
|10—15
|{{lang|de|Mein Leib ist müde,}}
|My body is weary,
|Imitative
|-
|rowspan="2"|B
|16—23
|{{lang|de|Die Kraft verschwindt je mehr und mehr,}}
|My strength is fading more and more,
|
|-
|24—28
|idem, variant
|
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|C
|29—37
|{{lang|de|Ich sehne mich}}
|I long
|
|-
|38—43
|{{lang|de|nach deinem Friede;}}
|for your peace;
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|D
|44—53
|{{lang|de|Der saure Weg wird mir zu schwer!}}
|The bitter path becomes too difficult for me!
|Imitative
|-
|53—64
|idem, variant
|
|Antiphonic
|-
|2
|{{music|common-time}}
|
|64—78
|{{lang|de|Komm, ich will mich dir ergeben;}}
|Come, I will give myself to you;
|Fugato
|-
|rowspan="4"|3
|rowspan="4"|{{music|time|6|8}}
|A
|78—100
|{{lang|de|Du bist der rechte Weg, die Wahrheit und das Leben.}}
|You are the right path, the truth and life.
|
|-
|A'
|100—122
|idem, variant
|
|
|-
|A"
|122—144
|idem, variant
|
|
|-
|A"'
|144—167
|idem, variant
|
|
|}
=== Aria ===
The second part, labeled "Arie" on the copy, looks at first glance like a [[chorale]] but differs markedly in a number of aspects.<!-- A Protestant choir is generally a harmonization of a traditional liturgical melody, composed for example by [[Johann Crüger]] or [[Martin Luther]] himself, on an equally traditional text. The main melody, sung by the [[soprano]], is simple, well known to the congregation, which takes it up again in chorus. --> The text of this part is not a traditional hymn text, but the eleventh verse of the same poem by Thymich. The melody is probably by Bach himself. It is indeed closer to an [[aria]] because it is freer, more complex and in a higher register than a typical chorale melody, for example by [[Martin Luther]] and [[Johann Crüger]].{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=363}} This melody is harmonized in the manner of a chorale, with four voices, with the two choirs merged into one.
An example of the aria's melodic freedom is the final [[melisma]] on the word {{lang|de|Weg}} (way), which rises more than one [[octave]], illustrating the ascent to Heaven.{{sfn|Cantagrel|2011|p=363}}
<poem>
''Drum schließ ich mich in deine Hände''
So I put myself in your hands
''Und sage, Welt, zu guter Nacht!''
And I say, world, good night!
''Eilt gleich mein Lebenslauf zu Ende,''
Even if the course of my life rushes towards the end,
''Ist doch der Geist wohl angebracht.''
My soul is nevertheless well-prepared.
''Er soll bei seinem Schöpfer schweben,''
It will rise up to its creator
''Weil Jesus ist und bleibt''
For Jesus is and remains
''Der wahre Weg zum Leben.''
The true path to life.
</poem>
== References ==
{{reflist|20em}}
== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book
| last = Cantagrel
| first = Gilles
| title = J.-S. Bach Passions Messes et Motets
| publisher = Librairie Arthème Fayard
| year = 2011
| isbn = 978-2-213-66302-9
| language = French
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Gardiner
| first = John Eliot
| author-link = John Eliot Gardiner
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lSBuAAAAQBAJ
| title = Music in the castle of heaven: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach
| chapter = 12
| publisher = [[Penguin Books|Penguin]]
| location = London
| year = 2013
| isbn = 978-1-84614-721-0
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Jones
| first = Richard D. P.
| author-link = Richard D. P. Jones
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0YwzAQAAQBAJ
| title = The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Volume II: 1717–1750: Music to Delight the Spirit
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| year = 2013
| isbn = 978-0-19-969628-4
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Mathesen
| first = John A.
| title = The six authentic motets of J. S. Bach
| publisher = [[Texas University Press]]
| year = 1967
| isbn =
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Melamed
| first = Daniel
| title = J. S. Bach and the German Motet
| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
| year = 2013
| isbn =
}}
* {{cite web
| url = https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000286
| title =  Komm, Jesu, komm BWV 229; BC C 3 / Motet
| website = [[Bach Digital]]
| year = 2018
| access-date = 13 February 2018
| ref = {{sfnRef|Bach Digital|2018}}
}}
== External links ==
* {{IMSLP|work=Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)|cname=Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229}}
* [http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/55373-B.pdf Cinq strophes du poème original ''Komm, Jesu, komm'' de Paul Tymish, sur la musique de Schelle (Hyperion)]
* [http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_motets/t_bwv229.htm Bach Motet Translations / BWV 229 – Komm, Jesu, komm] [[Emmanuel Music]]
* [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV225-231.htm Motets BWV 225–231] Bach Cantatas Website
* [http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-229/ Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229]: performance by the [[Netherlands Bach Society]] (video and background information)
* Free MP3 recording of [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/cgi-bin/acc_download.cgi/4mp3/Komm%20Jesu%20Komm%205.mp3 Komm, Jesu Komm – BWV 229], from [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/indexENG.html Umeå Akademiska Kör]
* [http://bach.org/education/motet-bwv-229/ Motet BWV 229 / Komm, Jesu, komm] [[The Bach Choir of Bethlehem]]
* [https://www.landeskirche-hannovers.de/evlka-de/presse-und-medien/frontnews/2012/04/2012_04_22 Bachs Motetten: "Jesu komm"] Landeskirche Hannovers 2012
* {{YouTube|X2b8_eZtjvo|Bach Motet BWV 229 "Komm, Jesu, komm" / Cantus Cölln / Konrad Junghänel}}
{{Bach motets}}
{{authority control}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Komm, Jesu, komm'', BWV 229}}
[[Category:Motets by Johann Sebastian Bach]]
[[Category:1734 compositions]]