Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott (Praised be the Lord,
my God), BWV 129, is a church cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the chorale cantata in
Leipzig for Trinity Sunday and possibly first performed
it on 16 June 1726. It is a general praise of the
Trinity, without a reference to a specific gospel
reading. Addressing God the Creator, the Saviour and
the Comforter, it could be used for other occasions
such as Reformation Day. The cantata is festively
scored and ends in a chorale fanta...(+)
Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott (Praised be the Lord,
my God), BWV 129, is a church cantata by Johann
Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the chorale cantata in
Leipzig for Trinity Sunday and possibly first performed
it on 16 June 1726. It is a general praise of the
Trinity, without a reference to a specific gospel
reading. Addressing God the Creator, the Saviour and
the Comforter, it could be used for other occasions
such as Reformation Day. The cantata is festively
scored and ends in a chorale fantasia, like the
Christmas Oratorio. It is the conclusion of Bach's
second annual cycle of cantatas, containing chorale
cantatas.
Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for Trinity
Sunday, the earliest in 1726. In his second year Bach
had composed chorale cantatas between the first Sunday
after Trinity of 1724 and Palm Sunday, but for Easter
had returned to cantatas on more varied texts, possibly
because he lost his librettist. Later Bach composed
again chorale cantatas to complete his second annual
cycle. This cantata is one of the completing works. It
is based entirely on the unchanged words on the chorale
Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott (1665) by Johann
Olearius and celebrates the Trinity in five
stanzas.
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the
Epistle to the Romans, reflecting "depth of wisdom"
(Romans 11:33–36), and from the Gospel of John, the
meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus (John 3:1–15). Unlike
most chorale cantatas of 1724/25, but similar to the
early Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4 and Lobe den
Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, also
composed after the second cantata cycle, Bach left the
chorale text unchanged, thus without a reference to the
readings.
Although originally scored for three soloists, soprano,
alto and bass, a four-part choir, three trumpets,
timpani, flauto traverso, two oboes, oboe d'amore, two
violins, viola, and basso continuo, I created this
arrangement for a Modern Small Orchestra (3 Bb
Trumpets, Flute(s), Oboe(s), Bb Clarinets, English
Horn, French Horn, Bassoon, Violins, Violas & Cellos).
