Many scholars think that it may be the earliest extant cantata by Bach, possibly composed in Arnstadt in 1707.
Introduction
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | Introduction
An extant cantata or a piece of music . It may be the earliest extant cantata by Bach. Earliest extant cantata by Bach Many scholars think that it may be the earliest extant cantata by Bach.
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Many scholars think that it may be the earliest extant cantata by Bach, possibly composed in Arnstadt in 1707.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | Introduction
"Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich", BWV 150 was possibly first performed on the third Sunday after Trinity, . The authenticity of the cantata has been doubted. One of Pachelbel's works appears to be referenced in the cantata.
Bach's early cantatas | "Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich", BWV 150
The work begins with a sinfonia and then alternates choral movements and arias. There are no recitatives, no da capo repeats, and there is no chorale tune, unusually for Bach's cantatas. Bach makes extensive use of choral fugues and imitative polyphony, often shifting the tempo and character of the music within movements very quickly to accommodate a new musical idea with each successive phrase of text. The sinfonia and the opening choral movement are both based on the motive of an octave leap followed by five descending half steps. This chromatic figure, sometimes dubbed the "lamento bass" or passus duriusculus, has been utilized by composers as early as Monteverdi as a musical representation of anguish, pain, and longing.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | Music
The sinfonia also introduces thematic material developed later in the work, uses asymmetric phrasing, and "a seamless flow of unstoppable melody". The first chorus on the beginning of Psalm 25, "" (Lord, I long for you. My God, I hope in you.), is "waywardly constructed despite its relative brevity". It is episodic, emphasizing a descending chromatic scale motif. The musicologist Tadashi Isoyama notes "the graphically chromatic phrases of the opening sinfonia and the following chorus; these are evocative of the suffering of the world". The following soprano aria, "" (Yet I am and remain content), is also brief but includes significant word painting.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | Music
Bach structured the cantata in seven movements, an opening instrumental sinfonia and four choral movements interspersed by only two arias. He scored it for four soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, and a small Baroque instrumental ensemble of two violins (Vl), bassoon (obbligato) (Fg) and basso continuo. The duration of the cantata is about 17 minutes. In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | Structure and scoring
The final movement, "", is a chaconne, a form which is typically constructed over a repeated ground bass. Bach uses a ground bass which is possibly a borrowing from Pachelbel. It is the inversion of the chromatic fourth ostinato from the opening movement. Bach's orchestration includes strumming effects which could be seen as recalling the origin of the chaconne in Spanish guitar music. From a theological point of view, both the inversion of the lamento bass and the series of modulations in this movement express in baroque musical affect how Christ leads from sorrow to joy.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | Music
Bach's original score is lost. The music survives in a copy made by C F Penzel, one of Bach's last pupils, after the composer's death. The date of composition is not known, and sources differ as to when and where Bach composed the work. However, the balance of opinion has moved towards a date at the beginning of Bach's career. It is not currently in dispute that it is one of Bach's earliest surviving cantatas. Suggestions for the place of composition have been: The Bach scholar Andreas Glöckner argued in 1988 that the cantata may have been composed in Arnstadt.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | History and text
Whether Bach had anything to do with these versions is not known: a chorale setting which only occurs in these variants was adopted as No. 31 in second "Anhang" of the "Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis", that is the of doubtful works.
Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130 | Introduction
The scholar Hans-Joachim Schulze identified in 2010 a remarkable acrostic in the concluding four movements (which he described in the 2010 "Bach-Jahrbuch", the journal of the Neue Bachgesellschaft). Adjusting for transposition errors by the copyist, the initial letters should spell DOKTOR CONRAD MECKBACH and plausibly therefore the work was composed to mark this Mühlhausen councillor's 70th birthday in April 1707. On this basis the cantata may date from Bach's time in Arnstadt. Possibly the cantata was heard a few weeks later after the end of Lent, and thus it may have formed a test-piece for the Mühlhausen appointment, composed in Arnstadt with Bach's supporter Meckbach in mind.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | History and text
The listing is taken from the selection on the Bach Cantatas Website.
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177 | Recordings
The fourth movement, "" (Lead me in your Truth and teach me), is another short and episodic chorus, divided into four sections. Movement five, "" (Cedars must, before the winds, often feel much hardship), is one of only a handful of vocal trios to be found in Bach's oeuvre, as well as the only movement in the cantata in all major. Isoyama writes: "the continuo part drives the music forward with its phrase describing the trials of the stormwinds". The penultimate movement, "", features a "celestial haze" of instruments as part of a complex texture. It is in binary form and modulates from D major through B minor to B major.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | Music
The listing is taken from the selection on the Bach-Cantatas website.
Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BWV 135 | Recordings
The three arias for the following verses show increasing instrumental complexity. Verse 2 is accompanied by continuo only, verse 3 by oboe da caccia, verse 4 by the rare combination of violin and bassoon. The musicologist Julian Mincham observes a "journey from uncertainty and doubt to warmth and acceptance and finally to rejoicing and jubilation". In the finale chorale Bach used ornamentation for expressiveness.
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177 | Music
The 32-bar work in A major is a chorale for mixed choir "a cappella". As Crawford Howie writes, "both "In jener letzten der Nächte" WAB 17 () and "Dir, Herr, dir will ich mich ergeben" WAB 12 () for a cappella mixed-voice choir are chorale harmonizations, probably the result of his studies with Zenetti."
Dir, Herr, dir will ich mich ergeben | Music
In the first aria, "" (Lord, your goodness reaches as wide as Heaven),soprano and two obbligato violins illustrate in raising lines the text "" (as far as the clouds soar), adding extended coloraturas on "" (praise) and "" (indicate [the way]).
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | 3
The selection is taken from the listing on the Bach-Cantatas website.
Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott, BWV 127 | Recordings
The cantata is, as John Eliot Gardiner notes, "generally accepted to be Bach's very first church cantata." Gardiner conducted in 2000 the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage and performed the cantata in the church for which it was then probably composed, at Bach's time called "Neue Kirche" (new church), now the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Kirche. The libretto alternates between biblical verses and free contemporary poetry, which is common in Bach's later cantatas, but rare among his early cantatas. The text of movements 2, 4, and 6 are selected psalm verses, . The author of the poetry is unknown. On the basis of the text, it has been suggested that the work was written for a penitential service.
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 | History and text
The chorale, "" (Your blood, the noble juice), is expanded to five parts with a combination of the four-part chorus and an accompanying violin part, similar to the chorale of "Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!" BWV 172, written earlier by Bach for Pentecost 1714 in Weimar.
Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136 | 6
The cantata is closed by a four-part setting of the last chorale stanza.
Ich freue mich in dir, BWV 133 | Music
The opening chorus presents the verse from the psalm, "" (He who offers thanks praises Me), in two choral sections, preceded by a long instrumental section.
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | 1
The four-part chorale "Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen", BWV 299, also appears in a two-part setting in Schemellis "Musicalisches Gesang-Buch" (BWV 452).
Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach | Four-part chorale "Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen", BWV 299
The cantata in five movement is scored for three soloists (soprano, alto and tenor), a four-part choir, two oboes, two oboes da caccia, two violins, viola, basso continuo, an obbligato violin and an obbligato bassoon.
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177 | Scoring and structure
An unknown librettist kept the first and the last stanza and paraphrased the inner stanzas in a sequence of recitatives and arias. Stanzas 2 and 3 were transformed to a recitative, stanza 4 to an aria, stanza 5 to a recitative, stanzas 6 and 7 to another aria.
Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott, BWV 127 | History and words
On the other hand, the musicologist Julian Mincham regards the piece as being different from later cantatas rather than inferior to them.
Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131 | Musical forms
The cantata in six movements is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, cornett to double the chorale melody, two oboes d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Ich freue mich in dir, BWV 133 | Scoring and structure
The unknown poet of the cantata text retained the first and the last stanza, and paraphrased the inner stanzas closely to a sequence of recitative and aria. The text has no reference to the readings nor to the feast of John the Evangelist. It expresses the intimate joy of the individual believer about the presence of God in the Jesus child. Bach first performed the cantata on 27 December 1724. Bach's successor Johann Friedrich Doles performed the cantata after Bach's death.
Ich freue mich in dir, BWV 133 | History and words
The tenor aria, "" (Lord, as far as the clouds stretch), is accompanied by two instruments not specified in the manuscript score, perhaps violins, according to the range.
Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171 | 2
The work is not to be confused with the motet "Ich lasse dich nicht", BWV Anh. 159, which is probably by Bach and which takes its title from the same biblical quotation.
Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV 157 | Introduction
"Scores" "Books" "Online sources"
Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126 | Bibliography
The cantata closes with a four-part chorale, the soprano reinforced by the cornett.
Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BWV 135 | Music
The sortable table follows the selection on the Bach Cantatas Website. Ensembles singing one voice per part (OVPP) and playing period instruments are marked by green background.
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | Recordings
(This movement can be reconstructed from the opening sinfonia of the cantata for the "Ratswechsel" of 1731, "Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir", BWV 29. The following tenor recitative ends with a choral statement from a litany "" (Hear us, dear Lord God). The sixth movement is a duet aria in da capo form. The bass recitative, "" (The Lord, the Lord our God, be so with you), prepares the closing chorale, a setting which appeared as the closing chorale of the chorale cantata "Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren", BWV 137, composed in 1725.
Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a | Music
The recitative beginning Part II, "" (One, however, among them, when he saw that he was cured), is of narrative character and therefore given to the tenor voice, similar to the Evangelist in Bach's Passions.
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | 4
The entries of the following table are taken from the Bach Cantatas Website.
Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29 | Recordings
The closing chorale is the third stanza of the hymn "" (1525) by Johann Gramann (Poliander).
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | History and words
The cantata in five movements is richly scored for three vocal soloists (soprano, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, trumpet, two recorders, two oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott, BWV 127 | Scoring and structure
The selection is taken from the listing on the Bach-Cantatas website. Instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are highlighted green under the header "".
Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126 | Recordings
The cantata in six movements is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, corno, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105 | Scoring and structure
The opening chorus is dominated by the concertante flauto traverso in figurations reminiscent of a flute concerto. Bach wrote virtuoso music for flute here for the first time in a cantata for Leipzig. Probably an excellent flute player was available. Bach seems to have written again for him in "Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn", BWV 96. Two themes of the opening ritornello of twelve measures, one for flute, the other for the strings and oboes, are derived from the melody of the hymn "O Gott, du frommer Gott" (1648). The chorale is sung by the soprano. The lively music in D major seems to represent the "world" rather than its negation.
Was frag ich nach der Welt, BWV 94 | Music
The Bach scholar Alfred Dürr concludes from the autograph that only the middle section of the third movements and the chorale were composed in 1723 with certainty. The other parts may rely on a former unknown secular or church cantata, according to the conductor John Eliot Gardiner and the musicologist Tadeshi Isoyama.
Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136 | History and words
Der Herr ist mit mir ("The Lord is on my side"), BuxWV 15, is a cantata by Dieterich Buxtehude. It is scored for two violins, violone, basso continuo, and four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). The text is taken from Psalm 118 (6-7).
Der Herr ist mit mir (Buxtehude) | Introduction
The work is scored for tenor and bass vocal soloists, four-part choir, flute, oboe, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo. The work has five movements:
Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV 157 | Scoring and structure
As the cantata shares music with other compositions, particularly BWV 120.1, but also BWV 1006 and BWV 137 (two earlier works), it can be reconstructed. On this basis, the instruments can be assumed to be those specified in the other works including oboes d'amore, trumpets and timpani. The names of bride and groom are not known. He has been assumed to be a minister of religion, deducted from the text "" (Lord, begin and pronounce your blessing / on this, your servant's house).
Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a | History and text
' (Praise ye the Lord, all ye of his great armies), BWV1147, ', is a church cantata text by Christian Friedrich Hunold which was performed, most likely in a setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, for the twenty-fourth birthday of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen on 10 December 1718. The composition is lost, but its libretto survives in a 1719 print.
Lobet den Herrn, alle seine Heerscharen, BWV Anh. 5 | Introduction
Movements 1 and 2 lament this loss. Movement 3 is a chorale, stanza 2 of "" by Martin Janus (or Jahn), asking Jesus to return. Movement 4 asks the same question in a personal aria. The answer is given by the bass, the (voice of Christ), in the words of the Gospel "" (Do you not know that I must be in that which is My Father's? ). The joy of the finding is expressed paraphrasing from the Song of Songs "The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills"(). The cantata ends with stanza 6 of Christian Keymann's chorale "".
Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren, BWV 154 | History and words
In the cantata, Bach uses the melody completely in a chorale fantasia in movement 1 and in the closing chorale, while he alludes to it in movement 5, a duet.
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 33 | History and words
In the central soprano da capo aria, "" (O my Savior, does your name instill even the very tiniest seed of that powerful terror?), the singer asks Jesus three questions and imagines the answers as "no", "no" and "yes", illustrated in the form of an echo-aria. An oboe is the obbligato instrument.
Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben, BWV 248 IV | 4
1530), a main hymn for the Sunday, used also in Bach's cantata , written in Weimar. In , also composed to complete the second annual cycle of chorale cantatas, Bach also used the unchanged words of the chorale, different from the cantatas originally composed for the cycle. Bach first performed the cantata on 6 July 1732.
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177 | History and words
While Bach's Weimar cantata , expressed a communal joy in two choral movements and two duets, a sequence of four movements for a single voice reflects the joy of the individual believer. The alto aria is accompanied by the two oboi d'amore, the soprano aria by the strings, changing from an even time in the outer sections to a siciliano in the middle section. The tenor recitative is marked adagio twice, once to stress "" (Almighty God Himself here visits us), finally to quote from the chorale in both words and music "" (He has become a little child and is called my little Jesus).
Ich freue mich in dir, BWV 133 | Music
(Original German: ") Bach repeated the ""-figure sixty times in sixty-eight bars. The first aria has menuet character. In "" (Do not grumble, dear Christian), the grumbling is illustrated by repeated eighths notes in the accompaniment. Movement 3 is the first stanza of the chorale "" which Bach used later that year completely for his chorale cantata BWV 99, and again in the 1730s for BWV 100. The words "" are repeated as a free arioso concluding the following recitative. The soprano aria is accompanied by an oboe d'amore obbligato. Instead of a da capo, the complete text is repeated in a musical variation.
Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin, BWV 144 | Music
As Spitta writes, "at last it gives out its own penitential cry, going through it completely in the middle range of compass, as if it flowed straight from the hearts of singing hosts." The prelude concludes gracefully on a pedal point, with a coda similar to the brief orchestral interlude.
Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105 | Musical description of movements
The fourth movement is a dramatic bass aria, accompanied by a restless continuo. Due to the compiled hymns, the melody of the closing two stanzas is different from the one used in movements 1 and 3.
Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126 | Introduction
The cantata opens with a chorus in two parts, a form of prelude and fugue, corresponding to the first two phrases of Psalm 143, "Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant / for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." As William G. Whittaker writes, "The chorus is so masterly that even a close analysis can only do scant justice to it." The orchestra is scored is for four voices, the two upper voices providing the first violins, oboe and corno "colla parte" and the others the second violins and oboe; in addition to violas there is a basso continuo.
Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105 | Musical description of movements
Mincham concludes from the unison of voice and oboe from measure 13 that mankind is depicted in tune with it.
Ihr Tore zu Zion, BWV 193 | Music
After the first ritornello, the instruments remain silent except for the pulsating basso continuo; the chorus sings in canon for six bars with new independent material in polyphonic motet style. First the alto starts singing a detached crotchet "Herr" followed by semiquavers motifs for "gehe nicht ins Gericht"; two beats later the tenor starts similarly, then the soprano and then the bass. The four voices continue singing the musical phrase "Herr, gehe nicht in Gericht" in an outpouring of imitative diminutions, until reaching a cadence on "mit deinem Knecht." There is then a reprise of the solemn eight-bar ritornello, now in the dominant key with the upper parts interchanged.
Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105 | Musical description of movements
The soprano aria, "" (Jesus shall be my first word uttered in the new year), is a parody of an aria from the secular , in which a virtuoso solo violin represents a gentle wind, while in the church cantata solo it serves the praise of the name Jesus.
Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171 | 4
' (Lord God, ruler of all things), BWV 120.2 (previously '), is a wedding cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed and first performed it in Leipzig, most likely in 1729.
Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a | Introduction
In the Protestant hymnal "Evangelisches Gesangbuch" it is EG 155, the first hymn in the section "Gottesdienst – Eingang und Ausgang" (Service – beginning and end). In the Catholic hymnal "Gotteslob" it is GL 147, in the section "Messgesänge – Gesänge zur Eröffnung" (Songs for mass – songs for the opening).
Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend | Hymnals
BWV 130.2 is a modified version of the cantata which Bach developed in the 1730s for a new performance on . The manuscript "P 101" at the Berlin State Library, which was likely written in the second half of the 18th century, contains two variant versions of the cantata:
Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130 | Variant versions
The closing chorale is a four-part setting.
Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet, BWV 164 | Music
The first aria, sung by the tenor, "" (Send Your power from above), is a prayer, intensified by two oboes. In the middle section the words "" (delight) and "" (scatter) are illustrated by runs in the voice.
Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126 | 2
' (Lord God, we praise You), ', is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for New Year's Day and first performed it on 1 January 1726 as part of his third cantata cycle. The beginning of the text is based on "", Luther's German Te Deum,
Herr Gott, dich loben wir, BWV 16 | Introduction
Neither movement has a da capo. The strings intensify the prayer of the last recitative. The choir of trumpets marks the ending of every line in the closing chorale.
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190 | Music
The Bach scholar Christoph Wolff notes that the trumpet fanfare "underlines the combative, dogmatic character of this late devotional song of Luther's".
Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126 | 1
The first recitative is secco, as the two others: "" (The entire world must be a silent witness).
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | 2
John Eliot Gardiner observes: The figuration is similar in the following alto aria, but mellow in the solo flute with continuo, matching the consoling words. The closing chorale on a melody by Ahasverus Fritsch is set in four parts.
Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45 | Music
A secco recitative, "" (The heavens themselves are not pure), tends to an arioso in the last measures.
Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136 | 4
The chorale is followed by an aria with an obbligato violin. Scholars have discussed if this unusual ending of the cantata was Bach's intention or if he had planned to conclude the work with Neumeister's fifth movement, another chorale. John Eliot Gardiner chose to repeat the chorale, performing its third stanza.
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 59 | Music
Bach scholars agree that the brass instruments, normally reserved for Feast days, could come from an earlier chorale fantasia of the same melody with the text of the German Gloria.
Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt, BWV 112 | Introduction
The cantata is scored for alto, tenor and bass soloists and a four-part choir (SATB), flauto traverso, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo. The seven movements are structured in two parts, part two to be performed after the sermon.
Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben, BWV 102 | Scoring and structure
The following aria is a paraphrase of . The cantata is closed by the second stanza of Johann Heermann's hymn "O Gott, du frommer Gott" (1630). The cantata is a symmetrical structure around the central Gospel quotation, beginning with the Old Testament and leading to the chorale. Bach first performed the cantata on 11 August 1726.
Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45 | History and words
Bach's music integrates melodies from the chorale into larger structures. Bach also shows his interest in counterpoint, something which was characteristic of him throughout his career.
Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131 | Introduction
"" (Let us revere the name of the sovereign) is set mostly in homophony with strings and woodwinds. After the middle section, the beginning A is repeated in full.
Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248 I | 1
Bach used and expanded parts of the cantata in , for Pentecost of 1725.
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 59 | History and words
The hymn tries to answer this question, comparing Jesus to the Morning star, an image also used in the hymn "", the base for Bach's cantata .
Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn, BWV 96 | History and text
The final chorale,"" (Let us complete the year), is taken from "Jesu, nun sei gepreiset", BWV 41, written for the same occasion in 1725. While the earlier cantata used the third stanza, this one has a setting of the second and is transposed up a step. It matches the opening chorus with a support of the voices by oboes and strings, while trumpets and timpani play interludes which add weight to the movement.
Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171 | 6
Bach used the music from the choral movement for both the and of his Mass in B minor.
Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29 | Introduction
This text, which was also used by Felix Mendelssohn in his oratorio "Paulus", is based on the ninth verse of the hymn "Herr Gott, du kennest meine Tage" by Ludwig Rudolph von Senftt zu Pilsach over the Stoning of Stephen.
Dir, Herr, dir will ich mich ergeben | Text
"Ihr wallenden Wolken", BWV 1150, an entirely lost New Year's Day cantata in honor of Prince Leopold, is often grouped with Bach's sacred music, but it may as well have been a secular work.
Lobet den Herrn, alle seine Heerscharen, BWV Anh. 5 | History
A question is part of Gospel, the disciples, being told that one of them will betray Jesus, ask "Herr, bin ich's?" (Lord, is it me?). Before the answer from the Gospel, stanza 5 of the hymn picks the wording up in an answer, "" (I should atone), which asks the listener to identify with that penitent position. Stanza 3, "", appears here after the beating of Jesus during the court hearing.
O Welt, sieh hier dein Leben | Bach Passions
The entries are taken from the listing on the Bach-Cantatas website. Instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked green under the header .
Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171 | Recordings
In movement 3, trumpets and timpani accompany the bass voice in a description of the battle against Satan. A soft duet of soprano and tenor recalls guardian angels saving Daniel in the lions' den and the three men in the furnace. John Eliot Gardiner compares the flute line in a gavotte for tenor to "perhaps the fleetness of angelic transport on Elijah's chariot". The closing choral again includes "the angelic trumpets".
Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130 | Structure
The following entries are taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas Website. Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked by green background.
Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131 | Recordings
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata (You, who call yourselves of Christ), 164 in Leipzig for the 13th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 26 August 1725.
Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet, BWV 164 | Introduction
As in several other cantatas on words of Franck, the setting is intimate: soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, two flauto traverso, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo. A four-part choir is only needed for the closing chorale, if at all. The cantata is in six movements:
Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet, BWV 164 | Scoring and structure
In the final aria, lively dotted rhythms in the strings and later in the voice illustrate "" (Throw yourself, my heart, only throw yourself into the loving arms of the Highest), the rhythms even appear in the continuo several times, while the strings rest on long chords. The tune of an Easter chorale from the 15th century closes the cantata in a four-part setting.
Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155 | Music
Scores Books Online sources
Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29 | Bibliography
The text is based on the prescribed gospel reading telling of Jesus cleansing ten lepers. It is opened by a verse from Psalm 50, quotes a key sentence from the gospel and is closed by a [stanza]] from Johann Gramann's hymn "". The cantata, structured in two parts to be performed before and after the sermon, is modestly scored for four vocal soloists and choir (SATB), and a Baroque orchestra of two oboes, strings and continuo.
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | Introduction
The alto provides the narration, particularly the announcement of a birth, in a recitative, "" (Now my dearest bridegroom, now the hero from David's branch), expressing eagerness to meet her bridegroom, a descendant of David, in the imagery of the Song of Songs. In an accompanied recitative, two oboes d'amore support the voice.
Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248 I | 3
The entries to the following listing are taken from the selection on the Bach Cantatas Website. Instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked green.
Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136 | Recordings
The next recitative for both voices, "So bald, als dir die Sternen hold, o höchstgepriesnes Fürstentum" (As soon as the stars were favorable to you, o highly praised princedom), addresses Leopold, the ruler.
Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a | 3
The last recitative, "" (Look on my will), is sung by the bass. It is accompanied by the continuo alone and expands on the theme of giving thanks to God.
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 | 6
' (My dearest Jesus is lost), ', is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it for the first Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it in Leipzig on 9 January 1724.
Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren, BWV 154 | Introduction
The last verse also appears in Handel's "Messiah", turned in the third person: "Come unto Him, all ye that labour", in the soprano section of "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd".
Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut, BWV 113 | History and words
Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden ("Praise the Lord, all ye nations"), BWV 230, is a motet by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230 | Introduction
"Schaffs mit mir, Gott", BWV 514, is a sacred song for voice and continuo.
Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach | Sacred song "Schaffs mit mir, Gott", BWV 514
Bach first performed the cantata, on 25 July 1723, at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.
Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105 | History and text
It recalls some of the motivic material from the first movement.
Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV 157 | Music
The closing chorale is set for four parts.
Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, BWV 148 | Music
The closing chorale is the fifth (and last) verse of Elisabeth Cruciger's hymn "" (1524). Bach first performed the cantata on 26 August 1725.
Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet, BWV 164 | History and words