When the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
— I Peter 5:4
The liturgical context for Cantata 104, “Thou Shepherd of Israel, Hear Us” is Misericordias Domini Sunday, informally called “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Most modern readers probably associate the Good Shepherd theme with the Fourth Sunday of Easter, placing the theme of Christ the Good Shepherd at the very center of the seven Sundays of the Easter season. But the flock in Bach’s day, and almost universally from Medieval days to the 1960s, expected the portrait of Jesus as the Good Shepherd on the second Sunday after Easter. The Introit declares that the “earth is full of the goodness of the Lord; by the word of the Lord were the heavens made,” declaring from the start of the service that every good gift in this world is under the auspices of the risen Shepherd. The Epistle (I Peter 2:21–25) reminds the faithful of their true calling and their identity as Christ’s sheep: “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (v. 25). The Verse (St. Luke 24:35b; St. John 10:14) and the Gospel (St. John 10:11–16) draw from John 10, declaring the good news that the Shepherd knows, loves, and even dies for His sheep. His sheep (i.e., the elect), in turn, know their Shepherd, hear His voice, and follow Him. Psalm 23 is curiously absent from the historic propers for this Sunday, but church musicians can easily incorporate it as a choral response or attendant music, as J. S. Bach (1685–1750) did with the Good Shepherd theme in Cantata 104.
“Thou Shepherd of Israel, Hear Us” follows the typical structure of Bach’s sacred cantatas from his first few years in Leipzig: a fantasia or free-form opening chorus, a series of recitative-aria pairs for soloists, and a closing chorale (German hymn). The text (please see the complete text and translation below) begins with a quote from Psalm 80, which unites heaven and earth. Christ indeed dwells in the cherubim and is seated at God’s right hand on high (Psalm 80:1). But rather than remain an aloof Deity, he becomes the new and greater Joseph, the One who becomes one of us in order to lead us to green pastures. In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, “Christ, sitting upon the Cherubim, extends and protects the Vineyard of the Church” (as quoted in John Mason Neale, Commentary on the Psalms, II:592). This unique combination of deity and humanity provides a wonderful opportunity for the composer to preach the gospel through music (especially at the word erscheine, “appear”), and J. S. Bach never misses such an opportunity. Nicholas Anderson describes the opening chorus, certainly the best-known movement of this Cantata:
We may justly consider the opening chorus, scored for SATB, two oboes, oboe da caccia, strings, and continuo, to be among the very finest in Bach’s cantata output . . . . the pastoral imagery is tenderly and imaginatively evoked in the lyrical G major opening chorus in 3 / 4 time. The gigue-like rhythm, the sighing phrases, and the urgently reiterated supplications ‘höre’ (‘hear’) and ‘erscheine’ (‘appear’), suffuse the movement with a profound melancholy . . . in this pastoral elegy.” (Oxford Composer Companions: J. S Bach, p. 143).
The rest of the text unfolds the mystery of Christ’s work for us as our Good Shepherd. The tenor sings the good news that our Shepherd meets our every need and leads us to the Father (“Abba”). The bass preaches the sacred truth that Christ is present to feed us at table and to give us a foretaste of heaven, language which references the Sacrament of the Altar and the foretaste of heaven therein. In the closing chorale, the congregation finally hears Psalm 23 (a metrical version, but very close to the biblical text), its first appearance in the liturgy of Good Shepherd Sunday.
I have provided an interlinear translation for the first and last movements, allowing you to follow the text closely. The intermittent movements include the English translation and key words in German, inviting you to listen for key moments of text painting. As always, I invite you to clear away all distractions, invite your family to join you, and listen devotionally to this Cantata, i.e., to listen for the comfort of the good news that Christ is your Good Shepherd. Do you recognize the chorale tune in the final movement?
| 1 Chorus Du Hirte Israel, Thou Shepherd of Israel höre der du Joseph hütest wie der Schafe, hear (us), thou who Joseph shelters like sheep, erscheine, der du sitzest über Cherubim. Appear, Thou who sits above the cherubim. 2 Tenor Recitative 4:57 The highest Shepherd [höchste Hirte] takes care of me, What use are my cares? Indeed every morning. the kindness [Güte] of the shepherd is new My heart, compose yourself, God is faithful [getreu]. 3 Tenor Aria 5:30 If my Shepherd stays hidden too long [zu lange ] And the wilderness makes me too fearful, My weak step still hastens forward my mouth cries [schreit] to you, and you, my Shepherd, bring about in me A faithful ‘Abba’ through your word. 4 Bass Recitative 8:40 Yes, this word [Wort] is the food [Speise] of my soul, a refreshment [Labsal] for my breast, the pasture, that I call my delight [Lust] a foretaste [Vorschmack] of heaven, indeed my all. Ah! Gather together now, O good Shepherd, us who are poor and gone astray; Ah let our path soon be ended And lead us into your sheepfold [Schafstall]! 5 Bass Aria 9:43 Happy flock, Jesus' sheep [Schafe]. The world is for you a heavenly kingdom [Himmelreich]. Here you already taste the goodness of Jesus and hope for the reward [Lohn] of faith after a sweet sleep-of-death [Todesschlafe]. 6 Chorale 16:43 Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt, The Lord is my faithful Shepherd dem ich mich ganz vertraue, To whom I completely entrust myself Zu Weid er mich, sein Schäflein, führt, To a pasture he leads me, his little sheep Auf schöner grünen Aue, Upon a beautiful green meadow. Zum frischen Wasser leit' er mich, To fresh waters leads He me Mein Seel zu laben kräftliglich My soul to restore powerfully Durchs selig Wort der Gnaden. Through the blessed Word of Grace. |
Did you recognize the chorale melody in the final movement? It is usually sung with the hymn, “All Glory be to God on High” by Nicolaus Decius (c. 1485–after 1546). “All Glory” is the metrical version of the Gloria in Martin Luther’s German Mass, i.e., his five hymns (three by Luther and two by Decius) based on the ordinary of the Mass, which allowed the people to sing the Mass in German. The pairing of a tune associated with the Gloria to a text based on Psalm 23 is both fitting and profound. In liturgical terms, the Gloria had just returned to the liturgy in Leipzig two weeks earlier, veritably begging to be sung after the Lenten hiatus. In theological terms, the congregation was invited to associate the tune with the Gloria while hearing a text on Psalm 23. So as the congregation (probably) joined in singing the closing chorale, they hopefully thought of God’s true glory, manifested to shepherds in the opening words of the Gloria (St. Luke 2:14), and now revealed to all people in Christ, the crucified yet risen Shepherd; the One who dwells among the cherubim, and yet whose highest glory is not among the cherubim, but here on earth, where He dwells with you.
Could there be a more fitting conclusion to this Cantata? See what comfort there is for you in this Good Shepherd theme! Everything in your life is under the watchful care of the Shepherd. Your entire life becomes, as it were, Psalm 23 fulfilled. Jesus is Your Shepherd, who meets your every need. He leads you beside the waters of baptism, makes you lie down in churchly pastures, and restores your soul through absolution. And even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you need not fear, for Christ is with you and will not forsake you. He prepares a sacramental table before you, set in the very teeth of the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh. His goodness and mercy shall follow you— even through your worst moments of sin, despair, and betrayal—to the unfading crown of glory “that [you] may obtain a place in [His] eternal habitation, and be filled with the plenitude of the celestial banquet” (The Brotherhood Prayer Book, p. 165).
Could there be a more fitting conclusion to this Cantata? See what comfort there is for you in this Good Shepherd theme! Everything in your life is under the watchful care of the Shepherd. Your entire life becomes, as it were, Psalm 23 fulfilled. Jesus is Your Shepherd, who meets your every need. He leads you beside the waters of baptism, makes you lie down in churchly pastures, and restores your soul through absolution. And even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you need not fear, for Christ is with you and will not forsake you. He prepares a sacramental table before you, set in the very teeth of the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh. His goodness and mercy shall follow you— even through your worst moments of sin, despair, and betrayal—to the unfading crown of glory “that [you] may obtain a place in [His] eternal habitation, and be filled with the plenitude of the celestial banquet” (The Brotherhood Prayer Book, p. 165).
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