One of the glories among the canon of Bach's cantatas, BWV 21 ("I was sore afflicted") is one of the earliest composed by Bach for Duke Wilhelm Ernst in Weimar. Although composed for the third Sunday after Trinity in 1714 (June 17), scholars believe it to be an expanded version of a cantata composed in the previous year and designed for more general use. Whatever its genesis, it is a deeply moving work revealing the greatness and dazzling technical virtuosity of the young composer. Bach's own high regard for the work is demonstrated by the fact that he almost certainly performed it in a revised version when applying for a post in Hamburg in 1720, further revising the cantata when it was given on June 13, 1723, in Leipzig, shortly after Bach's appointment as cantor. It is planned on a grand scale, with an opening orchestral sinfonia (a common feature of the Weimar cantatas) succeeded by no less than ten succeeding vocal sections divided into two parts, one preceding and one following the sermon. The scoring of the original version is for soprano, tenor, and bass soloists, four-part chorus, trumpets, timpani, oboe, bassoon, strings, and bass continuo. Bach's revisions involve differing dispositions of the solo vocal parts. The text is by Salomon Franck, the Weimar court librarian and poet responsible for the librettos of the majority of the cantatas Bach composed at the ducal court between 1714 and 1716. It takes as its basis the Gospel for the day, the parable of the lost sheep as narrated in Luke 15:1-10. The opening sinfonia for oboe and strings is informed by the sorrowing mood that characterizes most of the cantata. It leads to a magnificent three-part chorus, a fugal opening section succeeded by a lively central section whose major mode briefly lifts the prevailing sorrowing mood before returning to end in contemplation. The first aria for tenor (later soprano), "Sighs, tears, troubles and distress" expresses these grief-stricken sentiments with an anguish emphasized, contrapuntally, by the poignant lines of an obbligato oboe. The long tenor recitative that follows is a direct address from the sinner asking God not to turn away from him. It prefaces a "simile" aria for tenor, the words comparing the torrents of "salty tears" shed in the opening section to the vividly illustrated power of stormy seas in the central part. The first part concludes with an uplifting and consolatory chorus taken from the opening words of Psalm 42, "Why troublest thou, my soul?" Part II opens with a recitative and aria in dialogue form between the soul (soprano) and Jesus (bass), a form of dramatization frequently employed by Bach, particularly in the earlier cantatas. Here the lost soul calling out to Jesus in its darkest moments is answered by the promise of light and salvation, full of warmth in the accompanied recitative and fervent acceptance in the aria. The following chorus (initially conceived as the cantata's concluding movement) employs two strophes of Georg Neumark's hymn "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten," the first in long held notes by the tenors, the second similarly sustained by the sopranos. The final soprano aria brings about the long awaited move from darkness to light -- "Rejoice, O soul, rejoice O heart" -- as the singer rejoices in the thought of the comfort of God. The final chorus brings this superb cantata to a dazzling peroration, the use of trumpets and drums for the first time in the work underlining the text's concentration on "honor, glory and power." ~ Brian Robins, All Music Guide
