| O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort | |
|---|---|
BWV 60 | |
| by Johann Sebastian Bach | |
.png) Beginning of the closing chorale, "Es ist genug" | |
| Occasion | 24th Sunday after Trinity |
| Bible text | |
| Chorale | |
| Performed | 7 November 1723: Leipzig |
| Movements | 6 |
| Vocal | |
| Instrumental |
|
O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (O eternity, you word of thunder),[1] BWV 60, is a church cantata for the 24th Sunday after Trinity composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first performed in Leipzig on 7 November 1723, and is part of Bach's first cantata cycle. It is one of Bach's dialogue cantatas: its topic, fear of death and hope of salvation, plays out mainly through a conversation between two allegorical figures, Fear (sung by an alto voice) and Hope (sung by a tenor).
There are five movements. The orchestral accompaniment is assigned to a Baroque instrumental ensemble of horn, two oboes d'amore, strings and continuo. The first four movements are duets. The opening movement is a chorale fantasia containing a stanza from Johann Rist's "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" and a biblical quotation from the Book of Genesis. The second and third movements are respectively a recitative and an aria.
The fourth movement is a dialogue between Fear and Christ (vox Christi, sung by a bass), who quotes "Selig sind die Toten" from the Book of Revelation. The cantata closes with a four-part setting of Franz Joachim Burmeister's chorale "Es ist genug". Its melody begins with an unusual whole-tone sequence which inspired Alban Berg in the 20th century to incorporate Bach's setting in his Violin Concerto.