Bist du bei mir

Solidarity, one of the great words of the last century when we still believed that humanity was fundamentally on an upward trajectory towards the Kingdom of God, social justice, the triumph of the proletariat, and whatever other form of Utopia happened to be around. Maybe we’ve become a little disenchanted in the meantime. And present circumstances do not help. The possibility of regression into the dark places of unfreedom and fascism looms more nearly than any at any time in the last forty years. Economic recession can trigger within us our more basic tendencies and drives towards self-preservation.

Which is the reason why the haunting aria attributed to Bach, Bist du bei mir, stands, at least for me, as a prayer against descent into barbarism. I am sure that the more rigorous readers of this blog will be quick to point out that this aria has been mistakenly attributed to Bach. It is actually by the German composer Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. No matter, it is still hauntingly beautiful. I remember being captivated by it when it was the theme music in Joyeux Noel, the film about the Christmas Truce in 1914. It still stands as a defiant anthem against egoism, loss of hope and barbarism. Maybe because of its associations with that film.

Anyway, here are the words (in German, I’m afraid).

Bist du bei mir

Bist du bei mir, geh’ ich mit Freuden
zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh’, zum Sterben und
zu meiner Ruh. bist du bei mir,
geh’ ich mit Freuden zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh zum sterben und
zu meiner Ruh. Ach, wie vergnügt wär’ so mein Ende,
es drückten deine schönen Hände
mir die getreuen Augen zu!
Ach, wie vergnügt wär’ so mein Ende,
es drückten deine schönen Hände
mir die getreuen Augen zu!(repeat all)

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