# Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Now come, Savior of the heathens), BWV 62, in Leipzig for the first Sunday in Advent and first performed it on 3 December 1724. It is based on Martin Luther's Advent hymn "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland", a paraphrase of the Latin hymn "Veni redemptor gentium". The cantata is part of Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the second cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. In the format of this cycle, the text of the first and last stanzas of the hymn is retained unchanged while the text of the inner stanzas was paraphrased by an unknown librettist into a sequence of alternating arias and recitatives. The cantata is opened by a chorale fantasia and closed by a four-part chorale setting.
The cantata is scored for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of horn only to support the chorale melody, two oboes, strings and basso continuo.

## History and words

Bach wrote the cantata in 1724, his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, for the First Sunday of Advent. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Romans, night is advanced, day will come (Romans 13:11–14), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the Entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1–9). The cantata is based on Martin Luther's Advent hymn in eight stanzas "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland", the number one hymn to begin the Liturgical year in all Lutheran hymnals at the time. Luther had paraphrased the Latin hymn "Veni redemptor gentium". The unknown poet retained the first and last stanza, paraphrased stanzas 2 and 3 to an aria, stanzas 4 and 5 to a recitative, the remaining stanzas to an aria and a duet recitative. While Luther, influenced by the Latin model, phrased succinctly and sometimes in allusions, Bach's collaborator in Leipzig texted often freely and with poetic ambition.
Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance of the cantata on 3 December 1724, and he performed it again in 1736, adding a part for violone in all movements, after the Thomasschule had bought an instrument at an auction in 1735. Bach's successor Johann Friedrich Doles performed the cantata after Bach's death.

## Music
### Structure and scoring

Bach structured the cantata in six movements, beginning with a chorale fantasia, followed by a series of alternating arias and recitatives, and concluded by a chorale. He scored it for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of horn (Co), only to support the chorale melody, two oboes (Ob), two violin parts (Vl), a viola part (Va), and basso continuo (Bc). The duration is given as 22 minutes.
In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr's standard work Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
Movements of Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland :
| No. | Title | Text | Type | Vocal | Winds | Strings | Key | Time |
| 1 | Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland | Luther | Chorale fantasia | SATB | Co 2Ob | 2Vl Va | B minor | $^8$ $_4$ |
| 2 | Bewundert, o Menschen, dies große Geheimnis | anon. | Aria | T | 2Ob | 2Vl Va | G major | $^3$ $_8$ |
| 3 | So geht aus Gottes Herrlichkeit und Thron | anon. | Recitative | B | | | | |
| 4 | Streite, siege, starker Held! | anon. | Aria | B | | 2Vl 2Va | D major | |
| 5 | Wir ehren diese Herrlichkeit | anon. | Recitative duet | S A | | 2Vl Va | | |
| 6 | Lob sei Gott dem Vater ton | Luther | Chorale | SATB | Co 2Ob | 2Vl Va | B minor | |

### Movements

The hymn tune is based on the Medieval chant of the paraphrased hymn; John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, described it as of "dark, imposing character". The melody is in four lines, the last one equal to the first.
Church music was allowed in Leipzig only on the first Sunday of Advent. Gardiner observed about all three extant cantatas for this occasion, also Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61, and Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36, which all deal with Luther's hymn, that they "display a sense of excitement at the onset of the Advent season. This can be traced back both to qualities inherent in the chorale tune itself, and to the central place Bach gives to Luther's words."

#### 1

The first movement, the chorale fantasia "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, der Jungfrauen Kind erkannt" (Now come, Savior of the heathens, known as the Virgin's child) opens with an instrumental ritornello. It begins with a quote of the first (and last) line of the tune in the continuo, and ends with a slightly different quote in the oboes. Other than these quotes, the orchestra plays a free concerto, with the oboes introducing a theme, the first violin playing figuration. The ritornello appears shortened three times to separate the lines of the text and in full at the end. The soprano sings the cantus firmus in long notes, while the lower voices prepare each entry in imitation, using a motif from the tune for the first line, an inverted motif from the tune for the second line, motifs from the ritornello in the third line and an expanded reprise of the first line for the last. Dürr suggested that Bach was inspired to this festive setting in 6/4 time by the Gospel reading about the entry into Jerusalem. Christoph Wolff pointed out that the instrumentation is simple because Advent was a "season of abstinence".

#### 2

The first aria, for tenor, deals with the mystery of the birth of Jesus: "Bewundert, o Menschen, dies große Geheimnis: Der höchste Beherrscher erscheinet der Welt" (Marvel, O humanity, at this great mystery: the Supreme Ruler appears to the world ). Set in a major key in Siciliano rhythm, with string accompaniment doubled in tutti-sections by the oboes, it was described by Dürr as "joyfully soaring".

#### 3

A secco recitative for bass expresses: "So geht aus Gottes Herrlichkeit und Thron sein eingeborner Sohn" (Thus from God's glory and throne goes forth his only-begotten Son).

#### 4

In great contrast to the first aria, the second one, for bass, is focused on fight: "Streite, siege, starker Held!" (Struggle, conquer, powerful hero!) The voice delivers "rolling passages",, and the continuo adds motifs described as militant and tumultous. In a later version it is doubled by the upper strings. Gardiner regards the aria's "pompous, combative character" as a sketch for the bass aria "Großer Herr und starker König" from Part I of Bach's Christmas Oratorio.

#### 5

The duet recitative of the high voices, "Wir ehren diese Herrlichkeit und nahen nun zu deiner Krippen" (We honor this glory and approach your manger now), expresses thanks, intimately accompanied by the strings. Modulation into distant keys illustrate the miracle of the birth and the way to the manger.

#### 6

The closing chorale of the cantata is a doxology, "Lob sei Gott, dem Vater, g'ton" (Praise be to God the Father), in a four-part setting.

## Manuscripts and publication

Bach's autograph score of the cantata and set of parts missing are extant. It was first published in 1868 in the first complete edition of Bach's work, the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe. The volume in question was edited by Wilhelm Rust. In the Neue Bach-Ausgabe it was published in 1954, edited by Dürr and Werner Neumann, with a critical report in 1955.

## Recordings

A list of recordings is provided on the Bach Cantatas Website. Vocal ensembles with one voice per part (OVPP) and instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked by green background.