Bach - St John Passion - Ach, mein Sinn

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750):
ACH, MEIN SINN

Tenor aria from the St. John Passion.

The handwriting is by Johann Nathanael Bammler, who was prefect in the Thomanerchor Leipzig and an assistant to Bach in the late 1740s.

The St. John Passion was composed in the beginning of 1724 and had its first performance on Good Friday the same year (April 7). The original score by Bach is now lost. In the late 1730s, Bach began writing a new fair copy of the score. But he broke off his writing in the middle of the 10th movement (the recitative "Derselbige Jünger"). It is known that a planned passion performance in 1739 was cancelled by the church authorities in Leipzig, because Bach had not in due time seeked their approval of the passion text. Possibly this incident explains why he did not complete the score at that time. In 1749, in connection with a new performance of the St. John Passion, the score was finally completed by Bammler. Bach then reviewed the score and corrected various mistakes.

Ach, mein Sinn,
Wo willt du endlich hin,
Wo soll ich mich erquicken?
Bleib ich hier,
Oder wünsch ich mir
Berg und Hügel auf den Rücken?
Bei der Welt ist gar kein Rat,
Und im Herzen
Stehn die Schmerzen
Meiner Missetat,
Weil der Knecht den Herrn verleugnet hat.

Ah, my mind,
Where wouldst thou go at last,
Where shall I find refreshment?
Stay I here,
Or choose to place
Hills and mountains far behind me?
In the world there is no help;
And my bosom
Keeps the sorrow
For my evil deed,
Since the servant hath denied his Lord.

The autograph score by Bammler can be found here (Satz 13):
http://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000846

The Monteverdi Choir
The English Baroque Soloists
Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner

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[RafaelPolaco01]

thanks a lot for those videos. Very good! One of the best of Bach in youtube, and it insn´t trivial!