Oregon Bach Festival Discovery Series

Motet BWV 227 Jesu, Meine Freude

1985

The overwhelming portion of Bachs music belongs to the category of the church cantata,
of which approximately two hundred cantatas are extant. Our discussion today will focus
on one of Bachs compositions from a much smaller body of workthe motets.

Bach wrote only five motets; a sixth motet is probably a movement from a lost cantata.
Why did he compose so few examples of this form? It is because the motet, which had
been the standard form of 17th century church choral music, had been replaced by the
church cantata. The cantata was now the primary sacred choral form.

Bachs motets were written for unique situations, and this gave him the opportunity to
write for double choir. On Sunday mornings, the choir of the Thomaskirche had to serve
four churches in Leipzig, so the ensemble was necessarily divided into small groups. But
the entire ensemble would be available for other occasions, making double choir
compositions a possibility. In Jesu, meine Freude [Jesus, my joy], Bach did not write for
a double choir, but he did write for a chorus of five voices: soprano I, soprano II, alto,
tenor, and bass.

Jesu, meine Freude was composed for the funeral of the wife of Leipzig Postmaster Kees.
The Kees family, perhaps influenced by the minister, requested a composition that was a
combination of the chorale Jesu, meine Freude, and New Testament passages from Pauls
letter to the Romans.

Bach conceives the overall architecture of this motet as a frame form. That is, he
frames the central movement, from the beginning and from the end, with movements that
are related to their mirrored counterpart.

The motet begins with a four-part setting of the chorale Jesu meine Freude.

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The last movement of the motet is an identical four-part setting, but using the last verse
of the chorale Weicht, ihr Trauergeister [go away, ye spirits of sorrow].

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This four-part chorale is therefore the outer frame of the piece: the first and last
movements are the same setting.

Bach continues this framing technique. The second movement begins with strong chords
followed by rests, underlining the text from Romans Es ist nun nichts, nichts, nichts
Verdammliches an denen, die in Christo Jesu sind [There is nothing, nothing, nothing
that can condemn those who are in Christ].

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A fugato section at the text die nicht nach dem Fleische wandeln [those who do not
follow the way of the flesh] has a motive that begins with repeated notes, and then
develops in a wandering, meandering way. The motive begins with the tenors and then
proceeds through all voices before concluding with a convincing homophonic statement
at the text sondern nach dem Geist [but of the Spirit].

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At the end of the motet we encounter the same basic rhythm and chords, also using a text
from Romans So nun der Geist des, der Jesum von den Toten auferwekket hat [Now if the
spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead].

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We now have two frames: a chorale and a free movement with text from the New
Testament.

The third frame is another chorale setting, this time for five-part chorus. The earlier frame
movement is Unter deinem Schirmen bin ich vor den Strmen [I will be free from all
storms]. When the text says La den Satan wittern [Let Satan taunt me], the writhing,
serpentine figure sung by the tenors represents a snake, the common image of Satan.

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The tenor, alto, and second soprano describe kracht und blitzt [thunder and lightening]
with intervals leaping in opposite directions.

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The third frame from the end is also a chorale, but in a markedly different style. The text
is stated in a very baroque way Gute nacht, o Wesen, das die Welt erlessen [Goodnight,
worldly affections and attractions]. This verse of the chorale is set in four parts for
soprano I and II, alto, and tenor, without continuo. The chorale is not stated at the
beginning, but soon appears in the altos.

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The gentle lullaby of the beginning changes at the text Dir sein ganz, du Lasterleben [To
you, o shameful life]. Here a fugato, whose motive is characterized by syncopation,
culminates in a long soprano melisma that goes from high range down to very low.

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The fourth frame from the beginning is a trio for soprano I and II and the alto. Perhaps
Bach chose to write this movement for three voices because the text speaks of the Holy
Spirit, the Third Person of God Denn das Gesetz des Geistes, der da lebendig machet in
Christo Jesu [For the law of the Spirit makes us alive in Christ]. It is not unusual for
Bach to illustrate the theology of the Trinity using the number three in some way: writing
for three voices, using a triple meter or triplets, etc.

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Bach obscures the 3/4 rhythm in all voices at the text hat mich freigemacht von dem
Gesetz [has delivered me from all the law].

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The law of which St. Paul speaks is dem Gesetz der Snde und des Todes [the law of sin
and death]. At this point, the alto voice descends to the low range.

But immediately the alto has an ascending scale that is imitated by the first and then the
second soprano. Bachs use of the ascending figure represents the Resurrection of Christ,
the means by which the laws of sin and death are broken.

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The fourth frame from the end is also a trio. This time it is written for the low voices,
bass, tenor, and alto. The text says So aber Christus in euch is, so ist der Leib zwar tot;
der Geist aber ist das Leben [If Christ is within you, the body can be dead but the Spirit
is alive]. When the text speaks of the body being dead, the music is obscured by
sorrowful and dissonant harmonies. The life of the Spirit is described with fast moving
sixteenth notes.

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There is one final frame before the central movement of the motet. This fifth frame is
another chorale, this time an aggressive variation on the chorale melody. Bachs use of

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hemiola, unison passages, and sudden dynamic changes from piano to forte, describes
defiance to Satans raging.

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Against this turbulence, the assurance of in gar sichrer Ruh [secure in peace] is described
by a long-held note in the bass and later in the sopranos.

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Rests illustrate the text Erd und Abgrund mu verstummen [Earth and hellfire must keep
silence].

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The corresponding frame from the end is a more straight-forward chorale setting with the
melody clearly stated in the sopranos and a fugato in the three lower voices.

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And now, the sixth movement from the beginning and the sixth movement from the end
is the central movement of the motet. The text from Romans is Ihr aber seid nicht
fleischlich, sondern geistlich [You are not of the flesh but of the Spirit]. This comforting
statement of belief becomes the central message of this motet.

This movement is the only fugue in the entire work, thereby setting it apart as a
movement of significance. The fugue subject, with its insistent repeated notes at the
beginning, emphasizes the text Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich [you are not of the flesh].
The lively sixteenth note figures that follow portray the text sondern geistlich [but of the
Spirit].

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This energetic and lively motive permeates the whole fugue with lightness and joy.

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After the evolution and development of the fugue, the movement concludes with an
adagio. Bach writes this slow postlude as a solemn meditation on the concluding message
Wer aber Christi Geist nicht hat, der ist nicht sein [but he who does not dwell in Christ,
he is not Christs].

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Bach gives one final detail to the overall architecture of the motet by framing the
frame. The first words of the motet are Jesu, meine Freude [Jesus, my joy].

And the piece ends with these same words.

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Bach uses this idea of a musical framing structure in other works. In the St. Matthew
Passion, he frames the central aria aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben. It is also used in
the St. John Passion, where he groups the entire work around one central chorale. There
are similar examples in the Magnificat and B Minor Mass. In all of these works, as in
todays motet, Bach constructs the movements so they are not just a sequence of ongoing
music, but a way to direct and focus on issues of belief and faith.

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