Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6

Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden
BWV 6
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
Christ with Two Disciples, by Rembrandt
Occasion	Easter Monday
Chorale	"Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ" by Philipp Melanchthon, Nikolaus Selnecker "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort" by Martin Luther
Performed	2 April 1725 (1725-04-02): Leipzig
Vocal	SATB choir and solo
Instrumental	2 oboes oboe da caccia 2 violins viola violoncello piccolo continuo

Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden (Stay with us, for evening falls),^[1] BWV 6, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for use in a Lutheran service. He composed it in Leipzig in 1725 for Easter Monday and first performed it on 2 April 1725.

The prescribed readings for the feast day were Peter's sermon from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Road to Emmaus narration from the Gospel of Luke. The text by an anonymous librettist begins with a line from the gospel, and includes as the third movement two stanzas from Philipp Melanchthon's hymn "Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ", one stanza written by Nikolaus Selnecker. The text ends with the second stanza of Martin Luther's hymn "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort". Derived from the gospel scene, the topic is pleading for light in a situation of threatening darkness.

Bach structured the cantata in six movements and scored it for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of oboes, strings and continuo. The extended opening chorus is formed like a French overture and has been compared to Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine, the last chorus of Bach's St John Passion.