Bist du bei mir

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Bist du bei mir (en: "If thou art nigh") (BWV 508) is an aria by the German composer Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel. The piece is often mistakenly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach due to its inclusion in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. The aria was part of the Stölzel opera "Diomedes oder die triumphierende Unschuld" that was performed in Bayreuth on Nov. 16, 1718. The opera score is lost. The aria had been part of the Berlin Singakademie music library and was considered lost, until it was rediscovered in 2000 in the Kiev Conservatory. The continuo part of BWV 508 is more agitated and continuous in its voice leading than the Stölzel aria. It is uncertain who provided it, as the entry in the Notebook is by Anna Magdalena Bach herself. In an essay in the Bach Jahrbuch 2002, Andreas Glöckner speculates that either she obtained the song from the inventory of the Leipzig Opera that had gone bankrupt in 1720, or that it simply was a favourite known to nearly everybody in Leipzig that was particularly suitable for "Hausmusik".^[1]

The sheet music of the Stölzel aria is made available as a microfiche.^[2]

The piece has become a very popular choice for wedding ceremonies and other such occasions. It was featured in the 2005 French film "Joyeux Noel," accompanied by piano, violins, and cello.

1 The Text
2 See also
3 External links
4 Footnotes

[edit] The Text

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

The text translates to English as:

If you are with me, then I will gladly go to [my] death and to my rest. Ah, how pleasant would my end be, if your dear, fair hands shut my faithful eyes!