Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel: Aria ‘Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden’, from ‘Diomedes oder die triumphierende Unschuld’ (1718), long attributed to J. S. Bach
Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel
Born 23 January 1690 in Grünstädtel, Germany
Died 27 November 1749 in Gotha, Germany
World premiere:
1718 Opera "Diomedes oder die triumphierende Unschuld" in Bayreuth
Recommended recordings:
1997 Emma Kirkby, soprano
2018 Charles Daniel, tenor
Reception history:
Between 1734 and 1740, Anna Magdalena Wilcke Bach entered the aria ‘Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden’ for one voice and continuo (now BWV 508) in her second notebook. The Bachs used to collect their family hits in such notebooks for practising and making music together.
The aria had space on two pages. For whatever reason, Mrs Wilcke Bach added a copy of the well-known aria from her husband's Goldberg Variations between these two pages.
In 1866, ‘Bist du bei mir...’ was first published by Bach biographer Carl Hermann Bitter.
This was followed by two publications by the Bach Society in 1892 and 1894, with the comment that this composition "could well be a composition by Johann Sebastian"
In 1915, another manuscript was discovered in the library of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, which contained five arias by the composer Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690 - 1749), including an orchestrated version of the aria "Bleib bei mir..." for male voice, known to be by Bach.
Regardless of this, the public success of this touchingly beautiful melody began at the beginning of the 20th century, and many recordings of this aria were made by well-known female singers (from Blanche Marchesi for the first time in 1906, to Lotte Lehmann in 1929, to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in 1954). J.S. Bach was always listed as the composer's name. Bleibe bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden" was particularly popular at weddings and as sacred music, usually sung by women.
1945: During the Second World War, the archives of the Sing-Akademie Berlin were lost and with them the Stölzel manuscript of the aria ‘Bleib bei mir...’.
In 1950, ‘Bleibe bei mir...’ was included in the first edition of the Bach catalogue of works as BWV 508.
In 1957, the aria was published in the New Bach Edition, whereby Bach's orchestral version was regretted in the critical commentary as ‘lost’.
Even in the 1998 edition of Bach's works, the aria was not included in the appendix, although the Stölzel manuscript was known.
In 1999, after the fall of communism, the lost archive of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin in Kiev was rediscovered in its entirety. In 2009, its catalogue was published and the 5 arias in the Stölzel manuscript were identified as arias from the lost opera ‘Diomedes oder die triumphierende Unschuld’ by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. So it was not Bach who composed this uniquely beautiful melody, but Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel in his opera Diomedes (premièred in Bayreuth in 1718). Whether this poignant melody would have become just as famous if it had not been attributed to Bach remains a mystery in the history of its reception.
Content:
But another ‘mystery’ is probably even more interesting. Who is this You who is so with me when I die that I go ‘with joy to my death and rest’? What is this aria about? What is its context?
According to the libretto from 1718, the opera ‘Diomedes oder die triumphierende Unschuld’ is about the following: Diomedes, a Greek hero, is deeply and devotedly in love with Cleonice. The aria praises the closeness of his beloved. Cleonice becomes the basis of his life, enabling him to travel his path through life as a hero with joy. Even with death in sight, the aria celebrates the comforting power of love and the closeness of the beloved.
Another context was invented at the beginning of the 20th century in a story by Kurt Arnold Findeisen. Anna Magdalena began to sing this aria in Bach's house when Bach came home with a message of death and she turned to him in consolation. She celebrated the closeness of her spouse by singing.
Yet another context: radio preachers sensed a sacred atmosphere in the sound and text of this aria. The ‘you’ addressed reminds us of the closeness of Christ and the comfort of God.
No listening alone is right, not even with this poignant melody. However you feel about this music, it conveys 3 minutes of love to an open mind - secular or religious.
Listen here (approx. 3 min.)!
Female voice
Male voice
Listening companion (follow the score!)
The aria (in E flat major) is in da capo form. The texts are sung twice each. At the end, the first part of the text is repeated again, but melodically only as the second part.
From the music book of Anna Magdalena Bach:
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.
Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden
zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh.
If you are with me, then I will go gladly
to die and to my rest.
Ah, how pleasing were my end,
if your dear hands then
shut my faithful eyes!
If you are with me, then I will go gladly
to die and to my rest
From the manuscript with arias by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel:
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