page_title: Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105
section_title: Musical description of movements
hierarchical_section_title: Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105 / Musical description of movements
caption_attribution_description: English: Tenor aria from BWV 105
context_page_description: Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105 is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the ninth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 25 July 1723.
context_section_description: The cantata opens with a chorus in two parts, a form of prelude and fugue, corresponding to the first two phrases of Psalm 143, "Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant / for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." As William G. Whittaker writes, "The chorus is so masterly that even a close analysis can only do scant justice to it."
  The orchestra is scored is for four voices, the two upper voices providing the first violins, oboe and corno colla parte and the others the second violins and oboe; in addition to violas there is a basso continuo. The baroque oboe has a range below the modern one, so can play in unison with the second violins; and it is unclear what baroque instrument Bach had in mind for a corno—a corno da caccia, a corno da tirarsi or some other baroque woodwind instrument (such as a cornetto) that can double the soprano or alto voices. The choice of instrument likewise has to create the right balance between the first violins and tenor in the second aria.
  The monumental first part, marked adagio, starts in G minor with a sombre harmonically complex orchestral eight-bar ritornello. The throbbing repeated quaver beats of the figured bass play ceaselessly in the prelude. The ritornello has a penitent mood, its slow canon full of tortured chromatic modulations, suspended sevenths and which develops into sighing, mournful motifs in the violins and oboes. Similar chromaticism has been used elsewhere by Bach to illustrate the crucifixion, for example for the Crucifixus section of the Credo in the Mass in B minor and  for the last stanza, "trug uns'rer Sünden schwere Bürd' wohl an dem Kreuze lange", in the choral prelude O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß, BWV 622.
  After the first ritornello, the instruments remain silent except for the pulsating basso continuo; the chorus sings in canon for six bars with new independent material in polyphonic motet style. First the alto starts singing a detached crotchet "Herr" followed by semiquavers motifs for "gehe nicht ins Gericht"; two beats later the tenor starts similarly, then the soprano and then the bass. The four voices continue singing the musical phrase "Herr, gehe nicht in Gericht" in an outpouring of imitative diminutions, until reaching a cadence on "mit deinem Knecht." There is then a reprise of the solemn eight-bar ritornello, now in the dominant key with the upper parts interchanged. The six-bar chorus episode is repeated, with the alto responding to the soprano, and then the bass to the tenor. The chorus is now accompanied by the orchestra in double counterpoint, employing motifs derived from the first episode for chorus. After a cadence in the chorus, the orchestral briefly continues the double counterpoint, until there is a third freely composed episode for chorus. Now the sopranos lead the altos, and then the tenors lead the basses. The third episode lasts twelve bars and is richly scored, combining all the musical ideas from the chorus and orchestra: after less than three bars into the episode, in a moment of pathos, the original orchestral ritornello is for the first time played in counterpoint with the chorus. As Spitta writes, "at last it gives out its own penitential cry, going through it completely in the middle range of compass, as if it flowed straight from the hearts of singing hosts." The prelude concludes gracefully on a pedal point, with a coda similar to the brief orchestral interlude.
  The second part of the first movement is a spirited permutation fugue, marked allegro, initially scored for only the concertante singers and continuo, but eventually taken up by the whole ripieno choir, doubled by the orchestra. The tone of the text is condemnatory: "Denn vor dir wird kein Lebendiger gerecht"—"For in thy sight shall no man living be justified." The subject of the fugue theme commences resolutely with detached crotchets for "Denn", sung initially by the tenor accompanied by the basso continuo. The following fugal entry is sung by the bass, with the tenor now taking up the countersubject derived partly on the continuo quaver figures a
caption: Autograph manuscript of the aria for tenor, violin and corno
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