CDLXXVI. BACH, J.S. (1685-1750)
Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig (1666)
The rushing scales and incomplete, interrupted motifs passed back and forth between winds and strings, depict the "fleeting, futile existence" from the text.
The soprano sings the cantus firmus, while the rest of the choir follows the pattern established by those initial "rushing scales."
Ah, how fleeting, ah, how futile
Is a man's existence!
As a cloudlet quick appearing
Vanishes when skies are clearing
So our lives are shadows passing
2. Aria (Tenore): So schnell ein rauschend Wasser schießt
As a cloudlet quick appearing
Vanishes when skies are clearing
So our lives are shadows passing
2. Aria (Tenore): So schnell ein rauschend Wasser schießt
The text ("swift water") is abundantly illustrated in the music, with a torrent of notes from the flute, violin, and tenor soloist. Finding places to breathe is a hunt, and Johannsen here is up to the challenge:
As swift as water's mad career
The fleeting days, the flying hours
Are gone like passing summer showers
That down valley disappear
3. Recitativo (Alto): Die Freude wird zur Traurigkeit
Our joy is turned to bitterness
And beauty fades as doth a flower
The strongest of us laid low
Possessions come, and swift away they go
And so it is with fame and power
The schemes of men and all their toil expended
Forever in the grave are ended
The strongest of us laid low
Possessions come, and swift away they go
And so it is with fame and power
The schemes of men and all their toil expended
Forever in the grave are ended
4. Aria (Basso): An irdische Schätze das Herze zu hängen
This bass aria is accompanied only by three oboes and continuo. It seems to be in the form the bourée, but is far from being a lighthearted dance -- this is a Totentanz -- a dance of death!
There is a long melisma on the word zerschmettert ("shatter") and a weird four-note phrase of descending chromatic steps, right before the Da Capo ...
There is a long melisma on the word zerschmettert ("shatter") and a weird four-note phrase of descending chromatic steps, right before the Da Capo ...
5. Recitativo (Soprano): Die höchste Herrlichkeit und Pracht
Instead of hiring a soprano for this one little recitative, the J.S. Bach Foundation people decided to give it to the tenor. No biggie.
Another heavy text about how we all turn to dust -- rich and poor, great and small ...
The greatest lord, the meanest clod
Both end their days beneath the sod
He, too, will soon be dust and ashes
Who sets himself up as a god
For when his final hour has sounded
His mortal corpse by earth surrounded
Forgotten is his name and fame
His world to atoms crashes
Another heavy text about how we all turn to dust -- rich and poor, great and small ...
The greatest lord, the meanest clod
Both end their days beneath the sod
He, too, will soon be dust and ashes
Who sets himself up as a god
For when his final hour has sounded
His mortal corpse by earth surrounded
Forgotten is his name and fame
His world to atoms crashes
6. Choral (Coro): Act wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig
Ah, how fleeting, ah, how futile
Is a man's endeavor!
All the works by man created
Vanish and are dissipated
Fear thy God, and live forever
Reduced to better grasp the brilliance of Bach's part-writing:
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