Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 ("Actus Tragicus")
Funeral cantata
First performance: Mühlhausen, c. 1708
Soloists: Soprano, alto, tenor, bass
Chorus: S-A-T-B (could be soloists)
Orchestra: 2 recorders, 2 violas da gamba, continuo
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
Bach's cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit ("God's time is the best time"), is one of his earliest cantatas, written, it is thought, during the brief period when the 22-year-old composer held a post as church organist in Mühlhausen (1707-8). This beautiful, well-loved chamber cantata was written for a funeral, although whose funeral it was is a matter of some conjecture. The most likely candidate is Tobias Lämmerhirt, his mother's uncle with whom Bach was close. The original manuscript is lost, and the oldest surviving copy, which dates from after Bach's death, gives no clue as to the dedicatee. However, that copy does bear the title "Actus Tragicus," which has become attached to this cantata.
The work has an unusually transparent texture, with no orchestra but only two recorders, two gambas and continuo together with the vocal soloists and choir, which could be comprised of the four soloists. It is a simple, gentle, but intensely dramatic cantata that meditates on death, the continuity between life and death, and finding peace. The text uses Old Testament verses for the first part and New Testament verses for the second.
Boston Baroque Performances
Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106
March 8 & 9, 2013
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Teresa Wakim, soprano
Katherine Growdon, mezzo-soprano
Mark Sprinkle, tenor
Brad Gleim, baritone
Benjamin Henry-Moreland, bass