Johann Sebastian Bach Es erhub sich ein Streit

See how fiercely they fight!
The dragons and devils, with furious raging.
Angel Michael foils the foe,
see, his army lays them low,
ends all satan’s cruelty.

Thank God! the dragon fell! Archongel Michael conquered him;
the angel’s army drove him back to hell,
and there he lies in stygian gloom, firm bound by many a chain;
nor may he ever now resume
his place in heav’n again.
But we are safe, salvation nigh,
nor need we fear his futile roaring,
for with the angels thru the sky
our souls will soon be soaring.

...

Es erhub sich ein Streit!
Die rasende Schlange, der höllische Drache
stürmt wider den Himmel mit wütender Rache.
Aber Michael bezwingt,
und die Schar die ihn umringt,
stürzt des Satans Grausamkeit.

Gottlob! der Drache liegt.
Der unerschaffne Michael
und seiner Engel Herr hat ihn besigt.
Dort liegt er in der Finsternis
mit Ketten angebunden
und seine Stätte wird nicht mehr
im Himmelreich gefunden.
Wir stehen sicher und gewiss,
und wenn uns gleich sein Brüllen schrecket,
so wird doch unser Leib und Seel
mit Engeln zugedecket.

...

Ulrich Leisinger
Translation: John Coombs

The cantata Es erhub sich ein Streit (And there was war in heaven), BWV 19, by Johann Sebastian Bach was intended for use on the feast of St. Michael, and it was first performed in Leipzig on the 29th September 1726. Apart from the words of the Epistle for that day, from Revelation 12, 7–9, which are paraphrased in the opening chorus and in the following recitative, the cantata is based on parts of an originally seven-verse sacred poem which Christian Friedrich Henrici (alias Picander) had published in 1725 in his Sammlung Erbaulicher Gedancken über und auf die gewöhnlichen Sonn- und Fest-Tage (Collection of edifying ideas concerning and for the regular Sundays and feast days). Only the third verse was used unaltered from that poem, which had certainly not originally been written to be set to music. The other verses (except for the 4th and 5th verses which are not used at all) are incorporated in the 4th and 6th movements. The poem concludes with the 9th verse of the hymn “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele.” Bach made use of the tune to which this hymn was normally sung, but he wrote it in 3/4 time, uncommon in hymns of that

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