I’m Grateful to play again without massive pain in my ear & head. Grateful my fingers flew to (mostly) the right notes. Grateful to feel the music flow through my body, heart and soul.
Grateful to be performing music that testifies of Christ and his constancy in our lives. The 3rd movement that has the big cello solo has these words sung by the soprano chorus:
Ah, abide with us, Lord Jesus Christ,
for evening now has fallen,
Thy holy Word, the bright light,
let it not cease to shine on us!
In this final, dismal hour,
lend us constancy, O Lord,
that we Thy Word and Sacrament
keep pure until our end is nigh.
Now that I see the words which accompany the cello solo, I am curious about the juxtaposition of the 2 musical lines: the fast cello lines which are accompanied by the long, lyrical lines of the soprano voice. I wonder if Bach composed this movement to represent the internal battle that goes on between our heart and mind. We yearn for peace from the Lord (the long lyrical soprano voice), but our natural man response of anxieties (the fast cello) sometimes gets in the way of truly relying on and believing in peace from Jesus.
This is cataloged as his 6th work (BWV 6), but honestly, it is truly inspired.
‘Bleib bei uns denn es will Abend werden’, (“Stay with us because it will be evening” or as we know it, “Abide with MeTis Eventide”) Bach describes the contrast between belief and unbelief, light and darkness, and salvation and sin. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus have their doubts about the resurrection of Christ. They beg a man accompanying them to stay a little longer, as night is falling, the day is drawing to a close and they are afraid. But they did not see that all the time they had been talking to the resurrected Christ.
01, All You Works of the Lord, Bless the Lord, Kenneth Jennings:
02, Maria Magdalene, Andrea Gabrieli:
03, Ascendit Deus, Peter Philips:
04, Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, Heinrich Schutz:
05, God so Loved the World, Bob Chilcott:
06, Bleib bei uns BWV 6-1 Coro, JS Bach:
07, Bleib bei uns BWV 6-2 Aria Alto, JS Bach:
08, Bleib bei uns BWV 6-3 Choral Soprano, JS Bach:
09, Bleib bei uns BWV 6-4 Recitative Bass, JS Bach:
10, Bleib bei uns BWV 6-5 Aria Tenor, JS Bach:
11, Bleib bei uns BWV 6-6 Choral, JS Bach:
12, O Lux Beatissima, Howard Helvey:
13, Now Glad of Heart, Keaton Lee Scott:
14, Ubi Caritas, Rene Clausen:
15, Were You There, John Colton:
16, Daniel Daniel Servant of the Lord, Undine Moore:
17, Give Me Jesus, Larry Fleming: