Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42

Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats (On the evening, however, of the same Sabbath),^[1] BWV 42, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the first Sunday after Easter and first performed it on 8 April 1725. The cantata is part of Bach's second cantata cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. It is the only cantata of that cycle to begin with a sinfonia.

An unknown librettist included a verse from the Gospel reading, of a Resurrection appearances of Jesus in Jerusalem, to begin the cantata, and included three hymn stanzas, on from "Verzage nicht, o Häuflein klein" by Jakob Fabricius and two from Luther's "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort". Bach structured the cantata in seven movements and scored it for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo.

Bach composed Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats in Leipzig for the First Sunday after Easter,^[2] called Quasimodogeniti.^[3][4] He composed it in his second cantata cycle, which consisted first of chorale cantatas since the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724. Bach ended the sequence on Palm Sunday of 1725; Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats is not a chorale cantata and the only cantata in the second cycle to begin with an extended sinfonia.^[5]

The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of John, "our faith is the victory" (1 John 5:4–10), and from the Gospel of John, the appearance of Jesus to the Disciples, first without then with Thomas, in Jerusalem (John 20:19–31).^[2][3] The unknown librettist included verse 19 from the Gospel to begin the cantata, later the first stanza of the chorale "Verzage nicht, o Häuflein klein" (1632) by Jakob Fabricius, which had been attributed also to Johann Michael Altenburg, for the fourth movement, and as the closing chorale two stanzas which had appeared added to Martin Luther's "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort": "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich", Luther's German version of Da pacem Domine (Give peace, Lord, 1531), and "Gib unsern Fürsten und all'r Obrigkeit" (Give our rulers and all lawgivers), a stanza by Johann Walter paraphrasing 1 Timothy 2:2 (1566), concluded with a final amen.^[6] Werner Neumann suggested that Bach himself may have been the anonymous poet, while Charles Sanford Terry proposed Christian Weiss.^[7][4] Bach scholar Alfred Dürr supposed that it is the same author who wrote Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6, first performed six days earlier on Easter Monday of 1725.^[8]

After the quote from the Gospel of John, the poet paraphrased, in movement 3, words of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 18:20, "Wo zwei oder drei versammelt sind in meinem Namen, da bin ich mitten unter ihnen" (For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them).^[4]

Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance on 8 April 1725.^[8] He performed the cantata again at least twice, on 1 April 1731 and either on 1 April 1742 or on 7 April 1743.^[4][8]

Bach structured the cantata in seven movements, beginning with a Sinfonia. He may have intended to ease work for the choir after the busy holiday week.^[4] He scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A)tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes (Ob), bassoon (Fg), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), cello (Vc) and basso continuo.^[9][4] The duration of the cantata is given as 33 minutes.^[10]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Dürr's standard work Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach.^[9] The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Possibly Bach took the opening sinfonia from earlier music.^[4] According to John Eliot Gardiner, this movement and the first aria are both taken from Bach's lost congratulatory cantata Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück, BWV 66a, celebrating the 24th birthday of Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen on 10 December 1718.^[11] Dürr believed that it is a movement from a concerto.^[8] It does not highlight a particular solo instrument (although Julian Mincham saw a close resemblance to concerti which do, such as the opening movements of Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042, and the keyboard concerto, BWV 1053).^[5] Rather it is a type of concerto grosso (or "concerto a due cori", concerto for two choirs), the strings interacting with a concertino of the woodwinds, oboes and bassoon. The two groups first introduce their own lively themes, which are distinct but related to each other. Then they also exchange their themes and play together. The middle section begins with a surprising new motif for oboe and bassoon, which Bach himself marked "cantabile".^[4][6]

The Bible quote, "Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, da die Jünger versammlet" (On the evening, however, of the same Sabbath, when the disciples had gathered)^[1] is sung in recitative by the tenor as the Evangelist, accompanied by the continuo in repeated fast notes, possibly illustrating the anxious heart beat of the disciples, when Jesus appears, "On the evening, however, of the same Sabbath, when the disciples had gathered and the door was locked out of fear of the Jews, Jesus came and walked among them".^[4][8]

In the third movement, "Wo zwei und drei versammlet sind in Jesu teurem Namen" (Where two or three are gathered together in Jesus's dear name)^[1] an aria marked adagio, the repetition is kept in the bassoon, but the strings hold long chords and the oboes play extended melodic lines. According to Dürr, it may have been another movement from the same concerto that the first movement relies on.^[6][4]

Bach composed the chorale text of the fourth movement, "Verzage nicht, o Häuflein klein" (Do not despair, o little flock),^[1] as a duet, accompanied only by the continuo including bassoon. Fragments of the usual chorale theme, "Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn", can be detected occasionally. Terry interprets that the bassoon obbligato was intended to accompany a chorale melody which "never actually sounded", conveying the "hiddenness" of the church in the world.^[11]

The bass sings a recitative, "Man kann hiervon ein schön Exempel sehen an dem, was zu Jerusalem geschehen" (One can find a perfect message in what happened in Jerusalem;),^[1]; It ends in an arioso, to prepare the last aria.^[6]

In "Jesus ist ein Schild der Seinen, wenn sie die Verfolgung trifft" (Jesus is the shield of his own, when persecution follows them),^[1] the bass is accompanied by the divided violins and the continuo. The theme is again a contrast between the "Unruhe der Welt" (restlessness of "the world")^[1] and "Friede bei Jesus" (peace with Jesus).^[1][4] While the instruments play in wild motion, the bass sings a calm expressive melody, only accenting the word "Verfolgung" (persecution) by faster motion in long melismas.^[4][6]

The chorale theme of Luther's chorale, "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich, Herr Gott, zu unsern Zeiten" (Grant us peace graciously),^[1] was published by Martin Luther in the Kirchē gesenge, mit vil schönen Psalmen unnd Melodey (edited by Johann Walter), published in Nürnberg in 1531), and then in the Geistliche Lieder by Joseph Klug (Wittenberg, 1535).^[12] The melody of the additional stanza, "Gib unsern Fürsten und all'r Obrigkeit Fried und gut Regiment" (Give our rulers and all lawgivers peace and good government),^[1] was first published in Das christlich Kinderlied D. Martini Lutheri in Wittenberg, 1566. Bach set it for four parts.^[6][13]

Bach's autograph score of the cantata and a set of parts that Bach had revised are extant. The cantata was first published in 1860 in the first complete edition of Bach's work, the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe. The volume in question was edited by Wilhelm Rust.^[4][14] In the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, it was published in 1988, edited by Reinmar Emans, with a critical report the following year.^[4][14]

A list of recordings is provided on the Bach Cantatas website.^[15] Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are shown with a green background.

• "Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats (concerto da chiesa) BWV 42; BC A 63". Bach Digital. 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
• Bacon, Leonard Woolsey; Allen, Nathan H., eds. (1884). Dr. Martin Luther's Deutsche Geistliche Lieder. The Hymns of Martin Luther set to their original Melodies with an English version. Hodder and Stoughton.
• Dahn, Luke (2025). "BWV 42.7". bach-chorales.com. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
• Dellal, Pamela (2025). "BWV 42 – Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
• Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). "Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42". The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 295–297. ISBN 978-0-19-969628-4.
• Gardiner, John Eliot (2007). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 42, 67, 85, 104, 112, 150 & 158 (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 27 April 2019.
• Loy, Felix (January 2013). Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats / And in the ev’ning of that very Sabbath / BWV 42 (PDF). Translated by Eisentraut, Marina. Carus-Verlag. p. 4. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
• Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 42 Bwv 4 42 – The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
• Oron, Aryeh (2025). "Cantata BWV 42 Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats". Bach Cantatas website. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
• Wustmann, Rudolf; Neumann, Werner (1956). "Johann Sebastian Bach. Sämtliche Kantatentexte" Unter Mitbenutzung von Rudolf Wustmanns – Ausgabe der Bachschen Kantatentexte. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel.

• Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 254–255. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
• Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)