Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56

Background

In 1723, Bach was appointed Thomaskantor (director of church music) of Leipzig. The position gave him responsibility for the music at four churches, and the training and education of boys singing in the Thomanerchor. Cantata music was required for two major churches, Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche, and simpler church music for two smaller churches, Neue Kirche and Peterskirche.

Bach took office on the first Sunday after Trinity, in the middle of the liturgical year. In Leipzig, cantata music was expected on Sundays and feast days except for the "silent periods" (tempus clausum) of Advent and Lent. In his first year, Bach decided to compose new works for almost all liturgical events; these works became known as his first cantata cycle. He continued the following year, composing a cycle of chorale cantatas with each cantata based on a Lutheran hymn.

Third Leipzig cantata cycle

The third cantata cycle encompasses works composed during Bach's third and fourth years in Leipzig, and includes Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen. One characteristic of the third cycle is that Bach performed more works by other composers, and repeated his own works. His new works have no common theme, as the chorale cantatas did. Bach demonstrated a new preference for solo cantatas, dialogue cantatas and cantatas dominated by one instrument (known as concertante cantatas). During the third cycle, he repeated performances of solo cantatas from his Weimar period based on texts by Georg Christian Lehms: Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199, and Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54. He used more texts by Lehms in the third cycle before turning to other librettists.

Bach's solo cantatas are modelled after secular Italian works by composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti. Like the models, even church cantatas do not contain Biblical text and very few close with a chorale. His writing for solo voice is demanding and requires trained singers. Richard D. P. Jones, a musicologist and Bach scholar, assumes that Bach "exploited the vocal technique and the interpretative skills of particular singers". Jones describes some of these solo cantatas, especially Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170; Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen; and Ich habe genug, BWV 82; as among Bach's "best loved" cantatas.

Although dialogue cantatas also appear earlier in Bach's works, all four dialogues between Jesus and the Soul (Anima)—based on elements of the Song of Songs—are part of the third cycle. The only chorale cantata of the third cycle, Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, follows the omnes versus style and sets all stanzas of a hymn unchanged; Bach rarely used this style in his chorale cantatas, except in the early Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, and later chorale cantatas.

Occasion, readings and text

Bach wrote the cantata for the 19th Sunday after Trinity, during his fourth year in Leipzig. The prescribed readings for that Sunday were from Paul's epistle to the Ephesians—"Put on the new man, which after God is created" (Ephesians 4:22–28)—and the Gospel of Matthew: healing the paralytic at Capernaum (Matthew 9:1–8). For the occasion, Bach had composed in 1723 Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen, BWV 48 (Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?), and in 1724 the chorale cantata Wo soll ich fliehen hin, BWV 5 (Where shall I flee), based on Johann Heermann's penitential hymn of the same name.

Poet, theme and text

Until 2015 the librettist was unknown (as for most of Bach's Leipzig cantatas), but in that year researcher Christine Blanken from the Bach Archive published findings suggesting that Christoph Birkmann wrote the text of Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen. Birkmann was a student of mathematics and theology at the University of Leipzig from 1724 to 1727. During that time, he also studied with Bach and took part in cantata performances. He published a yearbook of cantata texts in 1728, Gott-geheiligte Sabbaths-Zehnden (Sabbath Tithes Devoted to God), which contains several Bach cantatas—including Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen. Birkmann has been generally accepted as the author of this cantata.

The librettist built on Erdmann Neumeister's text from "Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen", which was published in 1711. Kreuzweg, the Way of the Cross, refers to the Stations of the Cross and more generally to the "cross as the burden of any Christian". Here Kreuzweg is replaced with Kreuzstab, which can refer to both a pilgrim's staff (or bishop's crosier) and a navigational instrument known as a cross staff or Jacob's staff. Birkmann had an interest in astronomy and knew the second meaning from his studies. In the cantata's text, life is compared to a pilgrimage and a sea voyage.

Birkmann's text alludes to Matthew's Gospel; although there is no explicit reference to the sick man, he speaks in the first person as a follower of Christ who bears his cross and suffers until the end, when (in the words of Revelation 7:17) "God shall wipe away the tears from their eyes". The cantata takes as its starting point the torments that the faithful must endure.

The text is also rich in other biblical references. The metaphor of life as a sea voyage in the first recitative comes from the beginning of that Sunday's Gospel reading: "There He went on board a ship and passed over and came into His own city" (Matthew 9:1). Affirmations that God will not forsake the faithful on this journey and will lead them out of tribulation were taken from Hebrews 13:5 and Revelation 7:14.

The third movement expresses joy at being united with the Saviour, and its text refers to Isaiah 40:31: "Those that wait upon the Lord shall gain new strength so that they mount up with wings like an eagle, so that they run and do not grow weary". The theme of joy, coupled with a yearning for death, runs through the cantata.

Chorale

The final chorale is a setting of the sixth stanza of Johann Franck's "Du, o schönes Weltgebäude", which contains ship imagery: "Löse meines Schiffleins Ruder, bringe mich an sichern Port" ("Release the rudder of my little ship, bring me to the secure harbour"). The hymn was published in 1653 with a 1649 melody by Johann Crüger. Its text describes (in the first person) renouncing the beautiful dwelling place of the world ("schönes Weltgebäude"), only longing so dearly for the most cherished Jesus ("allerschönstes Jesulein"). This phrase recurs, with slight variations, at the end of each stanza.

First performance

Bach conducted the cantata's first performance on 27 October 1726. The soloist may have been Johann Christoph Samuel Lipsius. The performance followed another of his solo cantatas the previous Sunday, Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169, which also, unusually for a solo cantata, ends with a chorale.

Music

Structure and scoring

The cantata is structured in five movements, with alternating arias, recitatives and a four-part chorale. Bach scored for a bass soloist, a four-part choir (SATB) in the closing chorale, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes (Ob), taille (Ot), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), cello (Vc), and basso continuo. Except for the obbligato oboe in the third movement, the three oboes double the violins and viola colla parte. The title page of the autograph score reads: "Domin. 19 post Trinit. / Ich will den Xstab gerne tragen / a / 2 / Hautb. o Viol. / Viola o / Taille / 4 Voci / Basso solo / e / Cont. / di / J.S.Bach". The score begins with the line "J.J.Dominica 19 post trinitatis. Cantata à Voce sola. è stromenti" ("J.J. Sunday 19 after Trinity, Cantata for solo voice, and instruments"), making it one of the few works Bach termed a cantata. It is 21 minutes long.

In the following table, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (New Bach Edition). The keys and time signatures are from Alfred Dürr, and use the symbol for common time. The continuo, played throughout, is not shown.

Movements

Musicologist and Bach scholar Christoph Wolff wrote that Bach achieves "a finely shaded series of timbres" in Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen. The four solo movements are scored differently: all instruments accompany the opening aria; only the continuo is scored for the secco recitative, an obbligato oboe adds colour to the central aria, and strings intensify for the accompagnato recitative. All instruments return for the closing chorale.

In his biography of Bach, Albert Schweitzer points out that Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen is among the few works in which Bach carefully marked the phrasing of the parts; others are the Brandenburg Concertos, the St Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio and a few other cantatas, including Ich habe genug and O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 60.

The opening aria begins with "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, er kömmt von Gottes lieber Hand" ("I will my cross-staff gladly carry, it comes from God's beloved hand.").

The German text with Henry Drinker's English translation reads:

It is in bar form (AAB pattern), with two stollen (A) followed by an abgesang (B). The first stollen begins with a ritornello for full orchestra—with the theme initially heard in the second oboe and violin parts—anticipating in counterpoint the rising and falling motif of the bass soloist. An augmented second C♯ emphasises the word Kreuzstab, followed by descending sighing figures symbolising the bearing of the cross.

John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, described the beginning of the bass melody as a musical rebus, or conjunction of two words, Kreuz-stab, with the upward part "a harrowing arpeggio to a sharpened seventh (of the sort Hugo Wolf might later use)", and the downward part as "six and a half bars of pained descent to signify the ongoing burden of the Cross". After the soloist sings a series of melismatic lines, groups of strings and oboes are introduced as counterpoint, echoing motifs from the opening ritornello. The refrain is again taken up in the second stollen, but with significant variations due to the differing text: "It leads me after my torments to God in the Promised Land". After a repeat of the opening ritornello, the final abgesang contains the words, "There at last I will lay my sorrow in the grave, there my Saviour himself will wipe away my tears" ("Da leg ich den Kummer auf einmal ins Grab, da wischt mir die Tränen mein Heiland selbst ab").

Manuscripts and publication

The autograph score and parts are held by the Berlin State Library, which is part of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The fascicle numbers are D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 118 for the score (Partitur) and D-B Mus.ms. Bach ST 58 for the parts (Stimmen). It was published in 1863 in volume 12 of the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA), edited by Wilhelm Rust. The New Bach Edition (Neue Bach-Ausgabe, NBA) published the score in 1990, edited by Matthias Wendt, and issued critical commentary a year later. It was later published by Carus-Verlag in 1999 as part of Stuttgarter Bach-Ausgaben, a complete edition of Bach's vocal works.

Recordings

According to musicologist Martin Elste, the most frequently recorded Bach cantatas are three virtuoso solo cantatas: the Kreuzstab cantata,

Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51, for soprano and obbligato trumpet, and Ich habe genug, BWV 82, for bass or soprano. As a vocally demanding and expressive Bach cantata, it has attracted soloists beyond Bach specialists to record it. As of 2022, the Bach Cantatas website lists more than 100 recordings.

Early recordings

An early extant recording of the Kreuzstab cantata was a live concert performance, broadcast in 1939, sung by Mack Harrell with Eduard van Beinum conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1950, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was the soloist in the cantata as part of Karl Ristenpart's project to record all Bach church cantatas with the RIAS Kammerchor and its orchestra, broadcast live in church services. A reviewer described the singer at age 26 as "in wonderful voice, even throughout its compass and with a lovely ease at the top of his register", "natural and spontaneous", compared to a 1969 recording with Karl Richter, when the singer put more emphasis on the enunciation of the text.

In 1964, Barry McDaniel was the soloist for a recording in a series of Bach cantatas of Fritz Werner with oboist Pierre Pierlot, the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn and the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra. A reviewer described it as "a dignified and elevated account of this moving cantata", praising the singer's even and full tone, the sensitivity and intelligence of his interpretation, and the oboists sprightly performance, making the cantata "one of the highlights of the collection".

Complete cycles

In the first complete recording of Bach's sacred cantatas in historically informed performances with all-male singers and period instruments, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt and known as the Teldec series, the Kreuzstab cantata was recorded in 1976 by soloist Michael Schopper, the Knabenchor Hannover and the Leonhardt-Consort, conducted by Leonhardt. Helmuth Rilling, who recorded all Bach cantatas from 1969 with the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, completing in time for Bach's tricentenary in 1985; they recorded the cantata in 1983, also with Fischer-Dieskau. Pieter Jan Leusink conducted all Bach church cantatas with the Holland Boys Choir and the Netherlands Bach Collegium in historically informed performance, but with women for the solo parts. He completed the project within a year on the occasion of the Bach Year 2000. A reviewer from Gramophone wrote: "Leusink's success elsewhere comes largely through his admirably well-judged feeling for tempos and a means of accentuation which drives the music forward inexorably". He recorded the cantata in 1999 with his regular bass Bas Ramselaar. In the cycle by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Klaus Mertens was always the soloist, recording the Kreuzstab cantata in 2001. Reviewer Jonathan Freeman-Attwood from Gramophone noted that he gave a sensitive, cultivated rendition, but lacked the dramatic and emotional impact, which he found in McDaniel's 1964 recording with Werner.

Masaaki Suzuki, who studied historically informed practice in Europe, began recording Bach's church cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan in 1999, at first not aiming at a complete cycle, but completing all of them in 2017. They recorded the cantata in 2008, with Peter Kooy as the singer.

Bass solo works

The Kreuzstab cantata has been coupled with other works by Bach for solo bass, especially Ich habe genug, BWV 82—a paraphrase of the Song of Simeon—and an impassioned cantata taking longing for death as its theme. Sometimes the fragmentary cantata Der Friede sei mit dir, BWV 158, related to peace (Friede) has been added.

In 1977, Max van Egmond was the soloist of BWV 56 and BWV 82, with oboist Paul Dombrecht and Frans Brüggen conducting a Baroque ensemble on period instruments. Singer Peter Kooy recorded all three works in 1991, with La Chapelle Royale, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe. A reviewer noted his well focused voice in an intimate rendering full of devotion. The baritone Thomas Quasthoff recorded them in 2004, with oboist Albrecht Mayer, members of the RIAS Kammerchor, the Berliner Barock Solisten with Rainer Kussmaul as concertmaster. A reviewer observed his clear diction and phrasing, and his expressiveness. In 2007, a recording of the three works was released sung by Gotthold Schwarz with the Thomanerchor and the ensemble La Stagione Frankfurt, conducted by Michael Schneider; Schwarz had been a Thomaner, and would later become the 17th Thomaskantor.

In 2013, Dominik Wörner was the soloist for the three cantatas and also the secular cantata Amore traditore, BWV 203, with the ensemble Il Gardellino and oboist Marcel Ponseele, conducted by concertmaster Ryo Terakado. A reviewer characterised Wörner as having a sonorous and free low register and secure high register, with excellent diction and lyrical flow, and able to structure the action well. In 2017, Matthias Goerne recorded BWV 56 and BWV 82 with oboist Katharina Arfken and the Freiburger Barockorchester, conducted by concertmaster Gottfried von der Goltz. A reviewer was impressed by Goerne's "dry" powerful voice, but preferred Harrell's and Fischer Dieskau's "lulling resonance".

Legacy

Albert Schweitzer was an expert on Bach; his organ performances in Strasbourg churches raised funds for his hospital work in West Africa recognised 50 years later by his Nobel Peace Prize. In 1905, Schweitzer wrote a French-language biography of Bach, "J. S. Bach, le musicien poète", published by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig; it was expanded in 1908 to a two-volume German-language version, J. S. Bach; and Ernest Newman produced an English translation in 1911. Schweitzer writes of the cantata: "This is one of the most splendid of Bach's works. It makes unparalleled demands, however, on the dramatic imagination of the singer, who would depict convincingly this transition from the resigned expectation of death to the jubilant longing for death."

Schlafes Bruder

Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen appears in Robert Schneider's 1992 novel, Schlafes Bruder. The protagonist, Elias, improvises on the chorale and decides to end his life. The improvisation is described by the first-person narrator, who refers to the chorale's text. The narrator describes its emotional impact on listeners, hearing a young woman say "Ich sehe den Himmel" ("I see heaven") and saying that his playing could move a listener to the core of their soul (" ... vermochte er den Menschen bis in das Innerste seiner Seele zu erschüttern").

Schlafes Bruder inspired the 1995 film Brother of Sleep, directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. Enjott Schneider composed a toccata for the pivotal scene when Elias improvises during an organ competition at the Feldberg Cathedral, "hypnotising his listeners with demonic organ sounds" ("mit dämonischen Orgelklängen hypnotisiert"). Schneider's toccata quotes the chorale "Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder". The composition is dedicated to Harald Feller, an organist and professor in Munich who supplied ideas and recorded the film's music. It premiered at Feldafing's Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche in 1994, and became an internationally played concert piece.

The novel inspired a Herbert Willi opera, commissioned by the Opernhaus Zürich, which premiered on 19 May 1996.