The Madison Bach Musicians, under the direction of Trevor Stevenson, gave two concerts at Grace this past weekend. The program consisted of three cantatas. It was a wonderful concert and I am sorry I was unable to attend the pre-concert lecture.

I was especially moved by BWV 106: “Gottes Zeit ist die allerbester Zeit.” The text (German and English) is here. It’s a remarkable piece of music and profound theologically. From the earliest period of Bach’s work, it was probably composed for a funeral. As such, it is a meditation on the universality of death and the Christian hope of the resurrection. Weaving together scripture with chorale verses, Bach elicits a wide range of emotions in the listener and inspires reflection.

It begins with a statement of faith in the transcendence of God:

God’s time is the best of all times.
In Him we live, move and are, as long as He wills.
In Him we die at the appointed time, when He wills.

Then come a series of quotations from the Hebrew Bible that emphasize the finality and inevitability of death. Message and tone change abruptly as the soprano sings “Yes, Come, Lord Jesus.”

After that, another series of quotations, this time from the New Testament. In the Sunday performance, an Alto sang two quotations from Jesus’ last words on the cross, “Into your hands I commend my spirit;” and “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” In the first, Jesus is addressing his Father, at the moment of death returning from whence he had come. In the second, Jesus is addressing one of the two bandits with whom he was crucified and responding to the request “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”

In the mouth of the alto, both become statements of faith; the first is a confession that God is merciful, the second expresses the belief that death is not the end.

The cantata concludes with two chorale stanzas. The first is from Luther

With peace and joy I depart
in God’s will,
My heart and mind are comforted,
calm, and quiet.
As God had promised me:
death has become my sleep.

Apparently, it’s a paraphrase of the Nunc Dimittis, the words Simeon sang when he encountered the newborn Jesus Christ. The second is a hymn praise to the glory and majesty of God.

What a revelation! In a few minutes, Bach takes the listener through the gamut of emotions and at the same time expresses a deep understanding of the Christian faith. The performance was magnificent. Wow! It was great to be able to host this event at Grace. Good crowds at both performances, and the acoustics were perfect for the ensemble.