Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the Highest),
BWV 191, is a church cantata written by the German
Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and the only
one of his church cantatas set to a Latin text. He
composed the Christmas cantata in Leipzig probably in
1745 to celebrate the end of the Second Silesian War on
Christmas Day. The composition's three movements all
derive from the Gloria of an earlier Missa written by
Bach in 1733, which the composer would later use as the
Gloria of his Mass...(+)
Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the Highest),
BWV 191, is a church cantata written by the German
Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and the only
one of his church cantatas set to a Latin text. He
composed the Christmas cantata in Leipzig probably in
1745 to celebrate the end of the Second Silesian War on
Christmas Day. The composition's three movements all
derive from the Gloria of an earlier Missa written by
Bach in 1733, which the composer would later use as the
Gloria of his Mass in B minor.
Gloria in excelsis Deo was written in Leipzig for
Christmas Day, as indicated by the heading on the
manuscript in Bach's own handwriting, "J.J. Festo
Nativit: Xsti." (Jesu Juva Festo Nativitatis Christi --
Celebration for the birth of Christ), to be sung around
the sermon. Recent archival and manuscript evidence
suggest the cantata was first performed not in 1743,
but in 1745 at a special Christmas Day service to
celebrate the Peace of Dresden, which brought to an end
the hardships imposed on the region by the Second
Silesian War.
Its only link to Christmas is the opening chorus on
Luke (Luke 2:14), to be performed before the sermon.
The other two movements after the sermon (marked "post
orationem") divide the general words of the Doxology in
a duet Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto
(corresponding to the Domine Deus, the central piece of
the Gloria of the Mass in B minor) and a final chorus
Sicut erat in principio (corresponding to Cum sancto
spiritu of the Gloria). The final movement may contain
ripieno markings (to accompany the chorus) similar to
the ripieni found in Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV
110, which was also a nativity cantata.
Although originally scored for soprano and tenor
soloists and an unusual five-part choir (with a dual
soprano part), three trumpets, timpani, two flauto
traverso, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso
continuo, I created this arrangement for Small
orchestra (Piccolo Trumpet in A, 2 Bb Trumpets, 2
Flutes, 2 Oboes, Bb Clarinet, French Horn, Bassoon,
Violins, Violas, Cellos & Double Basses).
