Summary
JS Bach wrote his cantata Ich Habe Genug for the Feast of the Purification of Mary to be performed in Leipzig on 2nd February 1727.
The work is a retelling of the story of the old man Simeon who, waiting in the temple, was presented with the baby Jesus. As he held the baby in his arms, in Bach's version he says:
It is enough. I have held the Saviour, the hope of all peoples, In the warm embrace of my arms. It is enough.
Oboist George Caird recalls playing Ich Habe Genug at his father's funeral.
Theologian Paula Gooder recalls the effect of putting her new born baby into the arms of an elderly relative.
Danish music therapist Lars Ole Bonde tells how this music provided vital solace for him as a teenager growing up with a father suffering from depression.
American Susan Dray remembers how the Cantata helped her when she was grieving for her baby. And tenor Ian Bostridge wonders why we never feel that we have "enough".
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact
Producer: Rosie Boulton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Traitors is back and so is that mysterious cloaked figure with the familiar fringe. |
| 0:06.7 | Yeah, it's me. |
| 0:07.9 | And when you've watched Claudia in the castle, join me, Ed Gamble, for the official visualised companion podcast. |
| 0:13.7 | And remember, I'll be listening. |
| 0:15.9 | Okay? |
| 0:16.7 | No, seriously, I love it. |
| 0:18.5 | What a faithful. |
| 0:19.7 | We'll unpack betrayals and spill scandalous secrets with celeb guests, traitors' legends, |
| 0:25.0 | and murdered and banished players. |
| 0:27.1 | The Traitors Uncloaked. |
| 0:28.4 | Watch on EyePlayer, listen for more on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:32.1 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:36.7 | This cantata focuses on the story of Simeon, who as he enters the temple, he meets Mary and Joseph |
| 0:44.7 | and Jesus, and knows that this is the Messiah. |
| 0:49.5 | And he says, my eyes have seen salvation. |
| 0:53.2 | The thing with Ichabugunug is that it's based on the experience of this old man, |
| 0:57.6 | but it's about all of us finding that we share this experience with him, whatever age. |
| 1:03.4 | It starts with a sort of lulling thing in the strings. |
| 1:16.6 | You hear the strings beginning with this extraordinary rocking motion, and one can almost picture Simeon holding the infant Jesus in the temple. |
| 1:22.6 | And the holding of a baby is such an amazing thing. |
| 1:26.6 | You forget how wonderful it is. And then if you're holding the hope of a baby is such an amazing thing. You forget how wonderful it is. |
| 1:28.8 | And then if you're holding the hope of the future or God, sort of extraordinary. |
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