Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12

The cantata is opened by a Sinfonia, marked adagio assai, which resembles the slow movement of an oboe concerto, with an expressive and plaintive solo.[3][5]

Passus duriusculus, ground bass of the derived movement Crucifixus of the Mass in B minor

The first choral movement, "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen" (Weeping, lamentation, worry, despair),[1] is in da capo form. The first section is built on a basso ostinato as an old-style passacaglia in 3/2 time. The lamento, a chromatic fourth ostinato, is repeated twelve times. Musicologist Julian Mincham notes that Henry Purcell arrived at a similar motif in Dido's Lament in the opera Dido and Aeneas, which Bach probably did not know.[9] The first four words are each sung by a different vocal part, each overlapping the next. Beginning with the highest voice, each part sings an extended sigh. The setting is intensified, until in the seventh repeat all voices continue the text simultaneously: "Angst und Not" ("dread and need" or "anguish and trouble"[1]). The ninth repeat is similar to the first, but in more extreme harmonies. The twelfth repeat is instrumental. The middle section of the line about the Christians "die das Zeichen Jesu tragen" (that bear the marks of Jesus),[1] first marked "un poco allegro", is in a contrasting mood.[5] Its last section is marked andante, the voices enter one after the other, beginning with the lowest and rising. Throughout the middle section, the instruments play colla parte with the voices.[7] John Eliot Gardiner describes the first section as a "tombeau, one of the most impressive and deeply affecting cantata movements Bach can have composed to that point".[4]

The only recitative, "Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen" (We must enter the Kingdom of God through much sorrow),[1] is accompanied by the strings in a recitativo accompagnato.[7]

In German, sorrow is mentioned first, then the final Kingdom of God. Bach repeats the beginning text four times, while the singular destination appears only once. The key word "Trübsal" is illustrated each time by a downward line, each time with more intensity.[6] In the end, an ascending scale in the first violin illustrates the idea of entering the kingdom of God.[3] The scale is in C major, while the movement is in C minor, a symbol of the Kingdom of God which is a seen but not yet present.[6] The scale is related to the beginning of the tune of the closing chorale.[5]

The first of three arias, "Kreuz und Krone sind verbunden" (Cross and crown are bound together),[1] reflects the conflicting motifs of "Kreuz und Krone" (cross and crown) and "Kampf und Kleinod" (conflict and jewel).[4] The aria for alto voice and an oboe which is almost always present, is in da capo form, ABA. A ritornello frames part A, but also accompanies the vocal entry. It is thus heard six times in different context, related to the repetitions of the passacaglia of movement 2. The music illustrates the union of the four contrasting elements (all beginning with K): Kampf is sung as a melisma with a trill in measure 15, the preciousness of the jewel appears as a trill in the voice or the accompaniment. The text is also repeated in the middle section, as Bach was still experimenting with the da capo form.[6]

In the second aria, "Ich folge Christo nach" (I follow after Christ),[1] the decision to follow Jesus is made. "Walking steps" in imitation symbolize the following.[5] The first motif is an upward scale, illustrating the direction of Heaven, played by the first violin, imitated in fast succession by the second violin and then the continuo. The voice enters with the same motif.[6] Towards the end, the steps are expanded to more than an octave, reaching Heaven.[5] The bass singer and the continuo are in unison, interpreted as a mystical union of man and God.[6]

During the last aria, "Sei getreu, alle Pein" (Be faithful, all pain),[1] the trumpet plays the chorale tune "Jesu, meine Freude" as a cantus firmus;[11] Bach may have thought of the stanza "Weicht, ihr Trauergeister" (Go away, mournful spirits). The form of the aria follows the bar form of the chorale instead of the usual da capo form.[6]

The closing chorale, "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" (What God does, is well done),[1][12] is set for four parts, illuminated by an instrumental obbligato part.[9] Masaaki Suzuki and Gardiner use the trumpet that played the cantus firmus in the preceding aria.[4][5]