Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229
Motet by Johann Sebastian Bach / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Komm, Jesu, komm (Come, Jesus, come), BWV 229, is a motet by Johann Sebastian Bach, with a text by Paul Thymich. It was composed in Leipzig, and received its first performance by 1731–1732.
Komm, Jesu, komm | |
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BWV 229 | |
Motet by J. S. Bach | |
Key | G minor |
Occasion | Probably for a funeral |
Text | Paul Thymich |
Performed | By 1731–1732 |
Movements | 2 |
Vocal | 2 SATB choirs |
Bach scored the motet for double choir. It was probably composed for a funeral, as were others of his motets but exact dates of composition and performance are not known. It is his only motet without biblical text. He set a poem by Paul Thymich, which Johann Schelle set as a funeral aria in 1684. Also unusually, the motet is not closed by a chorale, but by an aria which is harmonized like a chorale.
The work has been described as having a confident, intimate and tender character, and making more use of polychorality (interplay of the two choirs) than polyphony (interplay of the voices). It also contains a small section of fugato set to the text 'Komm, ich will mich dir ergeben'. The theme of the text is death as the happy moment when man, tired of earthly life, can confide in Jesus, who is seen as Truth and Life and the only way to eternal life.