Decoding the Actus Tragicus: A new Discovery Unveiled

Thursday, January 30, 2025
Markus Rathy

A page from David von Schweinitz’ book showing the text Bach used for the Actus tragicus.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, also known as Actus tragicus, is one of his most remarkable works; at the same time, it is also one of the most enigmatic ones. The style of the cantata places it right in the first decade of the eighteenth century: we don’t have declamatory recitatives, no elaborate and operatic da capo arias, and the text is not poetic but rather it was compiled from biblical sources and hymns. While it is clear that Bach must have written the piece between 1706 and 1709, the occasion for the composition remains elusive. Scholars have suggested different dates: memorial services for Bach’s family members, the funeral of the daughter of one of Bach’s pastors, and I have suggested in 2006 that the cantata was written for the funeral of the burgomaster of Mühlhausen, where Bach had served as organist in 1707/1708. Even though my own suggestion still seems to be the most likely one to me, we are still missing firm proof for what occasion the cantata was composed.

Another mystery that has not been solved is the source for some of the texts. Most of the words are direct quotes from the bible: Bestelle dein Haus (Prepare your house, Isaiah 38:1), In deine Hände (Into your Hands, Psalm 31:5). Others are taken from the hymnal: Luther’s hymn Mit Fried und Freud (In peace and joy), and Glorie, Lob, Ehr (Glory, Praise, and Honor, a hymn by Adam Reusner). But the memorable opening line, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (God’s time is the very best time), does not have biblical roots. Scholars have searched for decades but it has not been possible to identify the source for the text. It has even been speculated that Bach might have written the words himself.

Hear Bach’s Actus Tragicus later this month

Yale Schola Cantorum will perform Bach’s Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit on Feb. 21 in New York City and on Feb. 22 in Yale’s Woolsey Hall.

Learn more about the concerts

The search for the elusive source now has an end: In a recent research project on theological sources from Bach’s time, I was finally able to identify the source. We find the words exactly as Bach uses them in the book Hundert Evangelische Todes-Gedancken (One hundred evangelical thoughts about death), published in 1664 by the seventeenth-century theologian David von Schweinitz (1600-1679). Schweinitz opens his interpretation of the gospel for the Feast of Purification with the exact text Bach later uses in his cantata: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit. In ihm leben/ weben und sind wir/ so lange er will/in ihm sterben wir zu rechter Zeit/ wenn er will.” And not only that, just like Bach’s cantata combines the contemplation of God’s time with a quote from the Lutheran Nunc dimittis, von Schweinitz also cites the song of Simeon, which is part of the gospel text for the Feast of Purification. In other words, Bach not only borrowed the text, but we also find it in a similar context.

One question remains: could Bach have possibly known the book by von Schweinitz? While we don’t have Bach’s own copy, it was hard not to encounter the book in the decades around 1700. The devotional text was an international bestseller: between 1664 and 1750, the book appeared in nine German editions as well as in translations into French and Swedish. It was an extremely popular tome, and it is more than likely that either Bach or one of the pastors he worked with knew and owned the volume.

The discovery of the source for the opening movement demonstrates again how valuable theological scholarship can be for a deeper understanding of some of our most remarkable musical works. A detailed discussion of the book will soon be published in the German Bach Jahrbuch.

Markus Rathey, the Robert S. Tangeman Professor in the Practice of Music History

Literature

Markus Rathey, “Zur Datierung einer Vokalwerke Bachs in den Jahren 1707 und 1708,” Bach-Jahrbuch (2006), 65-92

Markus Rathey, “‘Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit’—Anmerkungen zu einer unbeachteten Quelle für den Eingangschor des Actus tragicus,” Bach-Jahrbuch (2024), 185-193

David von Schweinitz

David von Schweinitz