Ich habe dich erloset

The second half of Bach’s motet “Furchte dich nicht” (“Fear you not”) consists of a Paul Gerhardt chorale, sung over a fugue drawn from Isaiah 43:1. The fugue repeats its subject – ich habe dich erloset, “I have you redeemed” – 33 times. The Redeemer is associated with the number three. More, as Calvin Stapert points out ( My Only Comfort ), the music also depicts the manner by which this redeemer redeems:

“The subject itself is both striking and meaningful. It begins with three descending half-steps, leaps up a fourth, and then descends three more half-steps. Wherever they appear (and they are nearly ubiquitous) these descending half-steps always strike the ear and hence draw attention to the text. But they do more than simply call attention to the text; they also point to teh way the redemption was accomplished. During the Baroque period, a melodic line descending in half-steps was almost synonymous with lamentation; it has been called the Baroque ‘emblem of lament.’ More specifically, for Bach it pointed to the crucifixion.” Yet, “after the descending half-steps, the melodic line turns upward and the rhythm enlivens to the eighth- and two sixteenth-note rhythm that had dominated the earlier phrase, ‘I also will help you.’” Without every saying “cross” or “resurrection,” Bach has served as a musical evangelist.

What is the motet saying? Many things, all at once, piled on top of each other, inserted into and surrounding, enveloping and enveloped by, one another. The words say “I have redeemed you,” while the music says “I redeem you through a cross” and “I redeem you through a glorification,” and then, since the rhythm recalls the earlier phrasing, “I redeem you, just as I promised to help you.”

It’s complex, but it’s not incoherent. Might a text also say many things at once, and remain coherent?