Gott hat uns im heurigen Jahre gesegnet

January 01, 2021

I'm continuing my studies of Bach's continuo arias, adding obligato parts of my own. This week I chose BWV 28.5, "Gott hat uns im heurigen Jahre gesegnet", a duet for Alto and Tenor, from the cantata "Gottlob, nun geht das Jahr zu Ende", appropriate for the new year.

The original recording is from John Eliot Gardiner. The added part is written for violin, but was played here on organ using the Jeux SoundFont.

The text is about being grateful for the blessings of the past year, and trusting for a good year to come.

Gott hat uns im heurigen Jahre gesegnet,
dass Wohlthun und Wohlsein einander begegnet.
Wir loben ihn herzlich und bitten daneben,
er woll' auch ein glückliches Neues-Jahr geben.
Wir hoffen's von seiner harrlichen Güte
und preisen's im Voraus mit dankbar'm Gemüthe.

My translation:

God has blessed us in this year,
so that doing well and being well come together.
We praise him from the heart and ask along with this
that he will also give us a happy New Year.
We hope for this because of his persevering goodness,
and we give praise in advance with a grateful attitude.

I'm sure we can all think of ways this past year has been pretty awful. I for one lost my father to cancer. My friend died of COVID-19. I've been more isolated than ever before in my life. The list could go on. But, let's compare our standards of living to those of 1725, the year this cantata was written, when it was for example common for most children to die of illness within the first few years of life, when common viruses regularly killed otherwise healthy people, and when life expectancy for those who survived was around 50, to say nothing of the undrinkable water, no electricity, etc. In the Western world, and especially in Western Europe, we now have basically the highest standard of living that has ever been achieved on earth. Nevertheless, life can bring us down, mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. We are called to remain thankful for our blessings and to persevere with grateful and hopeful hearts. Let's do that.

Amen.

— Aaron