Carus Verlag Jesus Schlaft, was soll ich hoffen, BWV 81 - Bach - Full Score

Cantata: Jesus sleeps, is hope now fading, 1724

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Editor: Reinhold Kubik
Translator: Vernon Wicker
Continuo realisation by: Paul Horn
Format: Full Score
Scoring: Soli ATB, Coro SATB, 2 Blfl f1, 2 Obda, 2 Vl, Va, Bc
Languages: German/English
Duration: 19 min

Bach composed the cantata "Jesus schlaft, was soll ich hoffen" [Jesus sleeps, what hope have I] BWV 81 for the fourth Epiphany Sunday, 1724. The cantata is structured as a little drama: In the beginning, fear prevails. The seas rage and Jesus is asleep. The threateningly foaming waves are vividly depicted in the soughing string accompaniment of the tenor aria. Jesus's words "Ihr Kleinglaubigen, warum seid ihr so furchtsam?" [You of little faith, why are you so fearful?] are set as a bass arioso at the centre of the cantata; they provide the turning point. In the subsequent bass aria, the "towering seas" are silenced. A recitative -- "Wohl mir" [Well for me] -- leads into the closing chorale with its certainty "Unter deinen Schirmen bin ich vor den Sturmen aller Feinde frei" [Under Your protection I am spared the tempests of my enemies].