Johann Sebastian Bach
Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden
“See, I shall send forth many fishermen”
(Cantata BWV 88)

One of two cantatas by J. S. Bach composed for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity is Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden (“See, I shall send forth many fishermen”). The text is inspired by that Sunday’s Gospel reading in which Jesus announces to St. Peter that he will transform him into a fisher of men.

While most of Bach’s cantatas commence with a movement sung by the entire choir, this one begins with the words of Jesus sung in a long aria by a bass soloist. Notice in the performance embedded below how frequently the word Siehe is repeated in this aria; Jesus is telling us to pay attention: “See! See! Look here, I say: look!”

The gentle rolling rhythm of the singer and the accompaniment suggests the rocking of a boat by waves. Somewhat oddly, the imagery of fishing is abandoned halfway through the solo, and Jesus announces: “And afterwards I shall send out hunters who shall hunt them on all the hills and mountains and in all the stony cracks.” The promise of the missionary huntsman is accompanied by the sound of two (hunting) horns joining the accompaniment of the solo.

The texts in the remainder of the cantata (which you can read here) are more concerned with the challenge of faithfulness than the dynamics of evangelism. The closing chorale employs a favorite melody of Bach’s, sung in our own time in the hymn “If thou but suffer God to guide thee.” Bach’s congregation would have heard this tune developed more fully in Cantata #93, which was first sung in 1724, two years before the present work was first sung.

Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden is performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, conducted by Ton Koopman. The soloists are Johannette Zomer, soprano; Bogna Bartosz, alto; Christoph Prégardien, tenor; and Klaus Mertens, bass.