On 2 March 1714 Bach was appointed concertmaster of the Weimar court capelle of the co-reigning dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. As concertmaster, he assumed the principal responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the Schlosskirche, on a monthly schedule. He composed the cantata for the Sunday after Christmas. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Galatians, through Christ we are free from the law, and from the Gospel of Luke, Simeon and Anna talking to Mary. The gospel is the passage following the canticle of Simeon. The cantata text was written by Salomon Franck, the Weimar court poet, who published it in Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer in 1715. The gospel refers to Isaiah and Psalm 118, mentioning "a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence" and the "stone which the builders refused". The poet refers to it, stating that God laid the stone of foundation, and man should not take offence. Jesus is then addressed as a stone beyond all gems. The cantata text is a dialogue of Jesus and the Soul and concludes with a duet, asking to reject the "world" and follow Jesus. This cantata is the earliest extant example of a dialogue, used again in Bach's third annual cycle of cantatas written in Leipzig. Bach first performed the cantata on 30 December 1714.
Scoring and structure
The cantata in six movements is scored for two soloists—soprano and bass—and four solo instruments: recorder, oboe, viola d'amore, viola da gamba and basso continuo. Bach himself wrote in the extant score "Concerto à 1 Flaut. 1 Hautb. 1 Viola d'Amour. 1 Viola da Gamba. Sopr. è Baßo coll' Organo." The cantata is Bach's only one using the viola d'amore.
Sinfonia
Aria : Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn
Recitative : Der Heiland ist gesetzt
Aria : Stein, der über alle Schätze
Recitative : Es ärgre sich die kluge Welt
Duet : Wie soll ich dich, Liebster der Seelen, umfassen?
Music
The cantata is intimate chamber music for only two voices, soprano and bass, and four solo instruments. Christoph Wolff notes the "colourful and delicate effects achievable with these forces". The opening sinfonia in two sections is reminiscent of a French overture, which Bach had used with a meaning in Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61, a few weeks earlier. The theme of the fugue is similar to that of Bach's fugue for organ, BWV 536. The fugue is one of few instrumental fugues in Bach's cantatas. The first aria is given to the bass, who invites the Soul to "step upon the path of faith". It is accompanied by an obbligato oboe and seems to illustrate the path in scales. The recitative is divided in two sections, following the contrast of "böse Welt" and "seliger Christ" in recitative and arioso. The words "zum Fall" is pictured in a downward leap of a tenth. The second aria, sung by the soprano, is like a prayer. The middle section is only four measures long, and the da capo repeat is shortened. The voice is accompanied by recorder and viola d'amore. The final duet, a love duet of Jesus and the Soul, is structured in sections, separated by parts of the ritornello which is repeated completely in the end. Each section contains first dialogue, then a canon illustrating unity. Klaus Hofmann notes: "With its dance rhythm, reminiscent of a gigue, the music delightfully illustrates the image ofthe heart turning to holy unity".
