Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir (Lord God, we all praise
you), BWV 130, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian
Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in
1724 for Michaelis, the feast of Michael, the
archangel, on 29 September 1724. It is based on the
hymn by Paul Eber (1554).
Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig
for the St. Michael's Day. That year, Bach composed a
cycle of chorale cantatas, begun on the first Sunday
after Trinity of 1724. The feast celebrat...(+)
Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir (Lord God, we all praise
you), BWV 130, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian
Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in
1724 for Michaelis, the feast of Michael, the
archangel, on 29 September 1724. It is based on the
hymn by Paul Eber (1554).
Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig
for the St. Michael's Day. That year, Bach composed a
cycle of chorale cantatas, begun on the first Sunday
after Trinity of 1724. The feast celebrated the
Archangel Michael and all the angels each year on 29
September. In Leipzig, the day coincided with a trade
fair.
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the
Book of Revelation, the Michael fighting the dragon
(Revelation 12:7–12), and from the Gospel of Matthew,
heaven belongs to the children, the angels see the face
of God (Matthew 18:1–11). The cantata is based on a
song in twelve stanzas by Paul Eber (1554), a
paraphrase of Philipp Melanchthon's Latin "Dicimus
grates tibi". Each stanza has four lines. The melody
was first printed in the Geneva Psalter in 1551. It is
attributed to Loys Bourgeois and is known as the famous
tune of the Doxology "Praise God, from whom all
blessings flow".
The hymn is only distantly related to the readings,
concentrating on the thought that the Christians sin
and deserve bad treatment, but may be raised to joy in
a "seliger Tod" (blessed death). An unknown poet kept
the first and the last two stanzas as movements 1, 5
and 6 of the cantata. He derived movement 2, a
recitative, from stanzas 2 and 3, movement 3, an aria,
from stanzas 4 to 6, movement 4, a recitative, from
stanzas 7 to 9, and movement 5, an aria, from stanza
10. The theme of the song, praise and thanks for the
creation of the angels, is only distantly related to
the readings. In movement 3, a connection can be drawn
from the mentioning of Satan as the "alter Drachen"
(old dragon), to Michael's fight. Movement 4 shows
examples of angelic protection in the Bible, of Daniel
(Daniel 6:23), and of the three men in the fiery
furnace (Daniel 3). Prayer for protection by angels, as
Elijah taken to heaven (2 Kings 2:11), continues the
text, concluded by general praise, thanks and the
request for future protection.
In the opening chorus, Bach illustrates the singing of
angels in different choirs by assigning different
themes to the strings, the oboes and the trumpets, in a
rich scoring typical only for the most festive
occasions of the liturgical year such as Christmas.
Mincham compares the movement to the 15 opening
movements preceding it in the second annual cycle: "it
is the most lavishly scored chorus so far and certainly
the most extrovertly festive in character".
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".
Although originally scored for four vocal soloists
(soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir,
three trumpets, timpani, flauto traverso, three oboes,
two violins, viola, and basso continuo, I created this
arrangement for Flute, French Horn & Cello.
