Bist du bei mir

Bist du bei mir (en: "If you are with me") (BWV 508) is an aria by the German composer Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. The piece is often mistakenly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach due to its inclusion in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. The aria was part of the Stölzel opera "Diomedes oder die triumphierende Unschuld" that was performed in Bayreuth on Nov. 16, 1718. The opera score is lost. The aria had been part of the Berlin Singakademie music library and was considered lost, until it was rediscovered in 2000 in the Kiev Conservatory. The continuo part of BWV 508 is more agitated and continuous in its voice leading than the Stölzel aria. It is uncertain who provided it, as the entry in the Notebook is by Anna Magdalena Bach herself. In an essay in the Bach Jahrbuch 2002, Andreas Glöckner speculates that either she obtained the song from the inventory of the Leipzig Opera that had gone bankrupt in 1720, or that it simply was a favourite known to nearly everybody in Leipzig that was particularly suitable for "Hausmusik". [Bach Jahrbuch 2002, pp. 172-174. This and the previous details are from the Glöckner article.]

The sheet music of the Stölzel aria is made available as a microfiche. [ [http://www.saur.de/index.cfm?lang=DE&ID=0000011322 Willkommen bei K. G. Saur ] ]

The piece has become a very popular choice for wedding ceremonies and other such occasions. It was featured in the 2005 French film "Joyeux Noel," accompanied by piano, violins, and cello.

The Text

Bist du bei mir, geh' ich mit Freuden zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh'. Ach, wie vergnügt wär' so mein Ende, es drückten deine schönen Hände mir die getreuen Augen zu!

The text translates to English as:

If you are with me, then I will gladly go to [my] death and to my rest. Ah, how pleasant would my end be, if your dear, fair hands shut my faithful eyes!

ee also

* List of songs and arias in Anna Magdalena Bach's notebook

Footnotes

External links

* [http://artsongcentral.com/2007/bach-attr-bist-du-bei-mir/ Sheet music for "Bist du bei mir"]
* [http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=382 The text of "Bist du bei mir" and an English translation]
* [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?preview=1&searchingfor=Bist&Composer=BachJS&Instrument=&Style=&timelength=1&timeunit=week&lilyversion= The score of the "Bist du bei mir" melody] " at the Mutopia project
* [http://www.lottelehmann.org/lehmann/llf/soundInfo/sndInfo_162.shtml 1930 recording] by Lotte Lehmann with text and translation