Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2

Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
BWV 2
Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach
Thomaskirche, Leipzig 1885
Occasion	Second Sunday after Trinity
Performed	18 June 1724 (1724-06-18): Leipzig
Movements	6
Cantata text	anonymous
Chorale	"Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein" by Martin Luther
Vocal	SATB choir solo: alto, tenor and bass
Instrumental	2 oboes 4 trombones 2 violins viola continuo

Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein (Oh God, look down from heaven), BWV 2, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, composed in Leipzig for the second Sunday after Trinity and first performed on 18 June 1724. It is the second cantata of his second annual cycle of chorale cantatas, and is based on Martin Luther's hymn "Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein", published in 1524 in the first Lutheran hymnal.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata for the Second Sunday after Trinity in Leipzig as the second cantata of his second annual cycle, which began a week before with O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of John, "He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:13–18), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the great banquet (Luke 14:16–24). The cantata is based on the six-stanza chorale Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, published by Martin Luther in 1524 in the Achtliederbuch, paraphrasing Psalm 12. The words are used unchanged in movements 1 and 6. An unknown poet transcribed the ideas of stanzas 2–5 into recitatives and arias. Bach first performed the cantata on 18 June 1724.

Scoring and structure

The work in six movements is scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, four trombones, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo. The trombones play colla parte with the choir.

1. Chorus: Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
2. Recitative (tenor, bass): Sie lehren eitel falsche List
3. Aria (alto, violin solo): Tilg, o Gott, die Lehren
4. Recitative (bass, strings): Die Armen sind verstört
5. Aria (tenor): Durchs Feuer wird das Silber rein
6. Chorale: Das wollst du, Gott, bewahren rein

Music

In the first and last movements, which use the original words of Luther's hymn, the style of the music is "archaic"—the instruments include a choir of trombones doubling the voices. In the first movement the melody of the chorale is sung by the alto in long notes, doubled by two oboes. Each line is prepared by fugal entrances of the other parts on the same theme. The second movement is a secco recitative, changing to arioso for two lines that resemble the words of the chorale, marked adagio. The alto aria is written in "modern" style with a solo violin in lively figuration. The bass recitative is accompanied by the strings. In contrast, the tenor aria is accompanied by a concerto of the oboes and strings, which are silent in the middle section until its transition to the da capo. The closing chorale is a four-part setting.

Selected recordings

The sortable listing is taken from the selection provided by Aryeh Oron on the Bach-Cantatas website. The type of choir and orchestra is roughly shown as a large group by red background, and as an ensemble with period instruments in historically informed performance or a choir of one voice per part (OVPP) by green background.

Recordings of Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2

Title	Conductor / Choir / Orchestra	Soloists	Label	Year	Choir type	Orch. type
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 1	Nikolaus Harnoncourt Wiener Sängerknaben Chorus Viennensis Concentus Musicus Wien	Paul Esswood Kurt Equiluz Max van Egmond	Teldec	1971 (1971)		Period
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 39	Helmuth Rilling Gächinger Kantorei Bach-Collegium Stuttgart	Helen Watts Aldo Baldin Walter Heldwein	Hänssler	1979 (1979)
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 10	Ton Koopman Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir	Michael Chance Paul Agnew Klaus Mertens	Antoine Marchand	1998 (1998)		Period
J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 8 – Leipzig Cantatas	Masaaki Suzuki Bach Collegium Japan	Yoshikazu Mera Gerd Türk Peter Kooy	BIS	1996 (1996)		Period
Bach Edition Vol. 12 – Cantatas Vol. 6	Pieter Jan Leusink Holland Boys Choir Netherlands Bach Collegium	Sytse Buwalda Knut Schoch Bas Ramselaar	Brilliant Classics	1999 (1999)	Boys	Period
Bach Cantatas Vol. 2: Paris/Zürich	John Eliot Gardiner Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists	Daniel Taylor James Gilchrist Stephen Varcoe	Archiv Produktion	1999 (1999)		Period
J.S. Bach: Cantatas for the First and Second Sundays After Trinity	Craig Smith Chorus of Emmanuel Music Orchestra of Emmanuel Music	Susan Trout William Hite Paul Guttry	Koch International	2001 (2001)
J.S. Bach: "O Ewigkeit du Donnerwort" – Cantatas BWV 2, 20 & 176	Philippe Herreweghe Collegium Vocale Gent	Ingeborg Danz Jan Kobow Peter Kooy	Harmonia Mundi France	2002 (2002)		Period
J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 29 – Cantatas from Leipzig 1724	Masaaki Suzuki Bach Collegium Japan Concerto Palatino Brass Ensemble	Pascal Bertin Gerd Türk Peter Kooy	BIS	2004 (2004)		Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol. 11	Sigiswald Kuijken La Petite Bande	Siri Thornhill Petra Noskaiová Marcus Ullmann Jan van der Crabben	Accent	2007 (2007)	OVPP	Period

Sources

• Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein BWV 2; BC A 98 / Chorale cantata (2nd Sunday after Trinity) Leipzig University
• BWV 2 Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein: history, scoring, Bach website (German)
• BWV 2 Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein: English translation, University of Vermont
• BWV 2 Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein: text, scoring, University of Alberta