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Cantata BWV 8
Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?
English Translation in Parallel Format
Cantata BWV 8 - Dearest God, when shall I die?

Event: 16th Sunday after Trinity
Reading: Epistle: Ephesians 3: 13-21; Gospel: Luke 7: 11-17
Text: Caspar Neumann (Mvts. 1, 6); Anon (Mvts. 2-5)
Chorale Text: Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben

Biblical quotations in green font, chorales in purple

 

Original German Text

 

English Translation

1

Coro

1

Chorus [S, A, T, B]

 

Corno col Soprano, Flauto traverso, Oboe d'amore I/II, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo

 

Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?
Meine Zeit läuft immer hin,
Und des alten Adams Erben,
Unter denen ich auch bin,
Haben dies zum Vaterteil,
Dass sie eine kleine Weil
Arm und elend sein auf Erden
Und denn selber Erde werden.

 

Dearest God, when shall I die?
My time runs continually away
and the heirs of old Adam,
among whom I also am included,
inherit this from their father
that they for a short while
are poor and wretched on earth
and then themselves become earth.

       

2

Aria T

2

Aria [Tenor]

 

Oboe d'amore, Continuo

   
 

Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen,
Wenn meine letzte Stunde schlägt?
Mein Leib neigt täglich sich zur Erden,
Und da muss seine Ruhstatt werden,
Wohin man so viel tausend trägt.

 

What makes you so alarmed, my spirit,
if my last hour strikes?
My body everyday inclines to the earth
and there must become my resting place,
where so many thousands are carried.

       

3

Recitativo A

3

Recitative ]Alto]

 

Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo

   
 

Zwar fühlt mein schwaches Herz
Furcht, Sorge, Schmerz:
Wo wird mein Leib die Ruhe finden?
Wer wird die Seele doch
Vom aufgelegten Sündenjoch
Befreien und entbinden?
Das Meine wird zerstreut,
Und wohin werden meine Lieben
In ihrer Traurigkeit
Zertrennt vertrieben?

 

Indeed my feeble heart feels
fear, care, pain:
where will my body find rest?
By whom will my soul
from the burden of sin laid upon it
be set free and released ?
Wht belongs to me will be dispersed
and where will those I love
in their sorrow
be driven apart and away?

       

4

Aria B

4

Aria [Bass]

 

Flauto traverso, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo

   
 

Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen!
Mich rufet mein Jesus: wer sollte nicht gehn?
Nichts, was mir gefällt,
Besitzet die Welt.
Erscheine mir, seliger, fröhlicher Morgen,
Verkläret und herrlich vor Jesu zu stehn.

 

Go away,you foolish, futile anxieties!
My Jesus calls me : who would not go to him?
Nothing the world posseses gives me pleasure
May the blessed , joyful day dawn for me,
transfigured and glorious to stand before Jesus.

       

5

Recitativo S

5

Recitative [Soprano]

 

Continuo

   
 

Behalte nur, o Welt, das Meine!
Du nimmst ja selbst mein Fleisch und mein Gebeine,
So nimm auch meine Armut hin;
Genug, dass mir aus Gottes Überfluss
Das höchste Gut noch werden muss,
Genug, dass ich dort reich und selig bin.
Was aber ist von mir zu erben,
Als meines Gottes Vatertreu?
Die wird ja alle Morgen neu
Und kann nicht sterben.

 

You can keep, o world, what belongs to me!
Since you will indeed take my flesh and bones,
take also my poverty;
it is enough, that from God’s abundance
the greatest good must be mine,
enough, that there in heaven I shall be rich and blessed
What is my inheritance
but the faithfulness of God my father?
This is new every morning
and cannot die.

       

6

Choral

6

Chorale [S, A, T, B]

 

Violino I e Flauto traverso in octava e Oboe d'amore I e Corno col Soprano, Violino II e Oboe d'amore II coll'Alto, Viola col Tenore, Continuo

 

Herrscher über Tod und Leben,
Mach einmal mein Ende gut,
Lehre mich den Geist aufgeben
Mit recht wohlgefasstem Mut.
Hilf, dass ich ein ehrlich Grab
Neben frommen Christen hab
Und auch endlich in der Erde
Nimmermehr zuschanden werde!

 

Lord over life and death
grant me finally a good end,
teach me to give up my spirit
in calm self-possession.
Help me, so that I may have an honourable grave
among pious Christians
and also finally in the earth
never suffer harm.

       

This Translation in Interlinear Format

English Translation by Francis Browne (August 2006)

Contributed by Francis Browne (August 2009)

Cantata BWV 8: Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben? for 16th Sunday after Trinity (1724)
Discography: Details & Complete Recordings | Recordings of Individual Movements
Discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

BWV 8 Text: German-1 | German-2 | German-6 | German-7 (1) | German-7 (2) | NBA Text
Translations: English-1 | English-3I | English-3P | English-6 | English-10 | English-14
Arabic-1 | Catalan-1 | Chinese-1 | Chinese-2 | Dutch-0 | Dutch-2 | Dutch-3 | French-1 | French-4 | French-5 | French-6 | Hebrew-1 | Indonesian-1 | Italian-2 | Japanese-6 | Norwegian-1 | Polish-1 | Portuguese-2 | Russian-1 | Russian-3 | Spanish-2 | Spanish-7 | Spanish/English-8
Chorale Text: Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben [BWV 8/1,6]

English Translations in Interlinear/Parallel Format (English-3): Sorted by BWV Number | Sorted by Title | Sorted by Event | Note on English Translations


Texts & Translations: Main Page | Cantatas BWV 1-50 | Cantatas BWV 51-100 | Cantatas BWV 101-150 | Cantatas BWV 151-200 | Cantatas BWV 201-224 | Other Vocal BWV 225-249 | Chorales BWV 250-438 | Geistliche Lieder BWV 439-507 | AMN BWV 508-524 | Other Vocal 1081-1164 | BWV Anh | Chorale Texts | Emblemata | Sources | Poets & Composers
Discussions: Texts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Translations: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4




 

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Last update: Monday, January 09, 2023 14:26