Bach wrote the cantata in his first year in Leipzig for the feast Purification of Mary. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the book of Malachi, "the Lord will come to his temple", and from the Gospel of Luke, the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus at the Temple, including Simeon's canticleNunc dimittis. The gospel mentions the purification of Mary, but elaborates on Simeon who had been told he would not die without having seen the Messiah. The canticle is a constant part of the services Compline and Evensong. The unknown poet also concentrates on this aspect of the gospel and connects it to the listener's attitude to his own death. In the second movement, he comments the words of the canticle "Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener in Friede fahren" by recitative. He shapes movement 3 as a close paraphrase of. Movement 4 recalls the last verse of the gospel, the closing chorale expresses the same thought in Martin Luther's words, the fourth stanza of his hymn "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin". The cantata was possibly Bach's first cantata for the occasion. He first performed it on 2 February 1724 and again in 1727. In 1725 he composed a chorale cantataMit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, on Luther's German version of the Canticle of Simeon, in 1727 he wrote the solo cantata Ich habe genung, BWV 82.
Recitative : Ja, merkt dein Glaube noch viel Finsternis
Chorale: Es ist das Heil und selig Licht
Music
The first da capo aria is richly scored for the full orchestra. Its first section celebrates the "joyful time". The ritornell presents a first motif in upward coloraturas, which is later picked up by the voice, then playful contrasting "choirs" of instruments, and virtuoso figuration of the solo violin. In great contrast the middle section concentrates on "our resting place, our grave", the violin imitating funeral bells by repetitions on open strings. Movement 2 is singular in Bach's cantatas. It contains the canticle of Simeon, sung by the bass on the eighth psalm tone of Gregorian chant, while a canon is played by all strings in unison and the continuo. After the first verse of the canticle, three sections of secco recitative are interrupted by the canonic music, finally the other two verses of the canticle are treated as the first. The use of psalm tones was already considered an archaism in Bach's time. In Movement 3 the concertante violin plays endless runs in triplets, to illustrate "Hurry, heart, full of joy", the voice imitates the runs. A short secco recitative leads to the four-part chorale. Bach had used this chorale already in his early funeral cantata Actus tragicus.
