Devilishly Difficult Counterpoint: Bach's BWV 40 Cantata (Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes) 

The german part means that the snake can't bring danger to the children of Adam, as it did in the beginning of time in Paradise (Eden, creation story). Greetings from Germany, Love your videos.

Bach is so brilliant one can't help but feel sheepish. His genius is truly staggering. He could dash off a magnificent cantata in less than a week and if it was for a special occasion (like this one) he could seemingly, effortlessly compose something of deep complexity but also of joy and beauty and love for God and all mankind. What a treasure for us centuries later!

I would translate the first sentence of the Recitative as: "The serpent, who in paradise brought down the venom of souls upon all of Adam's children, no longer puts us in danger." So it's talking about the original sin in paradise, the Garden of Eden.

It's the fact that Bach could compose such intricate yet harmonious music that further solidifies him as the greatest and most important western composer to have lived. His grasp at the art of counterpoint was truly astonishing, and in my opinion, hasn't been surpassed by any other composer since. Music as a whole is better because Bach lived and pushed the boundaries of what is possible.

Marvellous. What I can't get over is how someone could compose so physically so much complex material like this. Ok Bach is Bach, but I also think that musical education today would not allow someone to be able to achieve any like this, no matter how talented or dedicated.

Native German speaker here. No, the original text doesn't have the hilarious ambiguity of the English text. The German text in the Recitativo (Alt) says in the modern(!) understanding of the German language, that the snake who once in paradise let the venom of souls fall on all children of Adam in this manner, no longer brings us danger. "In this manner" would refer to a text passage before the Recitativo. Another difference between the German and the English version of the Recitativo is "the seed of a woman" reads in German "the seed of woman," unless "woman" specifically refers to a particular woman, probably Eve. [EDIT]No, that's wrong. If it was one particular woman the text refers to, then the phrase would be "the seed of the woman." [/EDIT] And lastly, the English translation of the Choir part seems to say that the Son of God is either sucessful or not successful in destroying the work of the Devil. The German text seems to state that the Son of God will definitely destroy the works of the Devil. But again, I read German from the early 1800s with today's understanding of the language. In any case, thank you for your video of this beautiful piece of Bach's divine music!

Dear Richard, a french viewer here ! Your channel is just a gem ! I appreciate very much the hard work you put in these videos! I am learning a lot thank to you and your great analysis

You know it’s gonna be good when the horn part is split into two lines

Try to imagine either the pure joy or utter despare if you happen to be member of the choir that has to perform these pieces! You were either in heaven or.... hell.

Of course Bach is a genius, but I am not formally trained and sometimes the beauty of the piece is overshadowed by the many layers of orchestration. I wonder if the later composers were able to achieve a better balance of complexity and beauty while still using counter-point and fugue albeit in more limited ways. However, there are also many beautiful pieces by Bach including this one.

VI: Cum Sancto Spiritu from Mass in F Major, BWV 233 is an almost exact copy of the initial Chorus part of BWV40 Cantata (Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes) but with slower tempo. It's incredible how Bach reused a lot of his own works, he sometimes probably didn't have enough time to compose new material and he had to reuse the old one.

It's interesting how you are introduced to things. I wasn't big into music until my early teens and one thing that started that was my dad looking for notation software as he like me is an amateur organist. One such programme we found had sections of Uns ist ein Kind geboren, BWV 142 in a demo file and this is afaik, the first of the Bach cantatas I actually listened to. And here I am, almost 30 years later with a huge interest in music and music theory watching a brilliant piece being analysed. And I am completely loving it. Great work as always on your videos, Richard.

Another outstanding video!!! It's just amazing how such a complex composition just flows effortlessly.

Incredible! thanks for the video :) Your favorite section is super addictive. It boggles the mind how staggeringly prolific Bach was; despite listening to mostly cantatas lately, I've never come across this one. I can't wait to discover what other brilliancies he's hidden in his vast opus <3

i always enjoy your analysis so much! great stuff :)

Bach is a master of symbolism. I love it.

And the result of his mastership - when you put all theory aside - is nothing but wonderful harmony.

fantastic analysis as always, I truly love these bach cantata videos, since I'm not smart enough yet to do thorough analysis like you do, so its always appreciated

Congratulations from Italy too. Your videos are all very instructive!