About this edition
Composed in Leipzig for the Third Day of Christmas 1725, Süsser Trost, mein Jesus kömmt (BWV 151) opens with one of the most tender arias Bach ever wrote: a soprano cradle-song in swaying 12/8 time, wreathed in a flute obbligato, that seems to rock the newborn Christ to sleep before turning to a brighter, quicker middle section. Setting a devotional poem by Georg Christian Lehms, the cantata unfolds across five intimate movements for four vocal soloists, flute, oboe d'amore, strings, and continuo, with the full choir held back until the closing chorale on Nikolaus Herman's "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen alle gleich." It is chamber music of the highest order, and proof that Bach's Christmas devotion could be as inward and consoling as it was jubilant.
This score reproduces the text of the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe, Band 32, published by Breitkopf und Härtel in Leipzig in 1886 and edited by Ernst Naumann (1832–1910). The Bach-Gesellschaft edition (1851–1899) was the first complete critical edition of Bach's works, undertaken by the society founded in 1850 to mark the centenary of the composer's death. For well over a century it stood as the standard scholarly source for performers and researchers alike, and its carefully engraved full scores remain a benchmark for legibility and fidelity to Bach's surviving manuscripts.
About this edition:
- Complete full orchestral score
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Reproduced from a public domain historical edition
- Published by Purple 4R Publishing
By reprinting this public domain score, we hope to put a cherished piece of Bach's Christmas music back into the hands of conductors, singers, students, and scholars at a friendly price. We're glad to help this music stay in circulation where it belongs.
