God, like your name, so is your glory
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| God, like your name, so is your glory | |
| BWV: | 171 |
| Occasion: | New Year |
| Year of origin: | 1728 |
| Place of origin: | Leipzig |
| Genus: | cantata |
| Solo : | S, A, T, B |
| Choir: | (S, A, T, B) |
| Instruments : | 3Tr, Ti; 2Ob; 2Vl, Va; Bc |
| text | |
|
Picander , Johann Hermann , Book of Psalms |
|
| List of Bach cantatas | |
God, like your name, so is your fame ( BWV 171) is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach , which he performed for the first time in Leipzig on New Year 1729 at the earliest .
Bach composed this cantata several years after the cantata cycles he wrote at the beginning of his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1723. The text by Christian Friedrich Henrici , who published under the name Picander, appeared in a collection of texts in 1728 for all occasions of the church year . The feast day also celebrated the circumcision and the presentation of the Lord . Picander focused on naming, starting with a verse from the Book of Psalms that mentions the name of God . As the final chorale, he used the second stanza from Johann Hermann's hymn " Jesus, now be praised ".
Bach divided the cantata into six movements, an opening choir fugue , changing arias and recitatives and a final chorus. He wrote the work for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a festive baroque orchestra consisting of three trumpets and timpani , two oboes , string instruments and the figured bass . Oboes and strings play in the choral sections with the voices as motets , while the trumpets play a new style. The cantata is part of Bach's Picander cycle.
Background and text
Bach had started his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1723. In his first year there he composed a first cycle of cantatas for almost all occasions of the church year , his cantata cycle in the second year mainly comprised choral cantatas based on Lutheran hymns. In the third year Bach began a third cycle, but wrote the works more irregularly. God, like your name, is also your fame comes from a later incomplete cycle, which the Bach researcher Christoph Wolff calls the Picander cycle, as texts by the librettist Picander, with whom Bach had already worked on the St. Matthew Passion , used were. Picander wrote in the foreword to the collection of cantata texts for 1729 that "a lack of poetic elegance would be compensated for by the sweetness of the incomparable Kapellmeister Bach".
The cantata was composed for the New Year . The prescribed scriptures for that day, eight days after the birth of Jesus, the circumcision and presentation of the Lord were celebrated, were taken from Paul's letter to the Galatians - "by faith we inherit" ( Galatians 3:23 ) –29 EU ), as well as from the Gospel according to Luke - the circumcision and representation of Jesus ( Luke 2, 21 EU ). Picander wrote the text and published it in 1728. Picander took a verse from Psalm 48 for the first sentence ( Psalm 48, 11 EU ). As the final chorus, he used the second stanza from Johann Hermann's song "Jesu, nun sein preiset". Picander's poetry focuses on the name of Jesus , similar to Bach's later cantata on the same occasion, Part IV of his Christmas Oratorio . The biblical quote from the Old Testament mentions the name of God . The first recitative adds the thought that the name of Jesus is a gift for the new year. The second aria explains that the name of Jesus as the first word in the new year should also be the last word in the hour of death. The last recitative refers to a verse in the Gospel according to John ( John 16, 23 EU ) in which Jesus says: "Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give you." The last sentence combines prayers and expectations for the new Year.
Bach conducted the Thomanerchor in the first performance, which took place on January 1, 1729 at the earliest, or later, in 1736 or 1737.
music
Structure and occupation
The cantata is divided into six movements. After an opening chorus, arias and recitatives follow alternately . Bach wrote the cantata for four vocal soloists ( soprano , alto , tenor and bass ), a four-part choir and an instrumental ensemble consisting of three trumpets , timpani , two oboes , two violins parts, one viola part and figured bass .
The title of the score reads: “JJ Festo Circumcisionis Xsi. Concerto. 4 voci each. 3 Trombe, Tamburi, 2 Hautb. 2 Violini, Viola e Contin: di Bach ”. The duration is given as 22 minutes.
The following overview of the movements follows the New Bach Edition . The key and the time signature are taken from the book by the Bach researcher Alfred Dürr on Bach's cantatas. The continuo playing figured bass is not specified.
| No. | title | Author of the text | Type | vocal | Wind players | Strings | key | Tact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God, like your name, so is your glory | Book of Psalms | Choir | Soprano, alto, tenor, bass | 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 oboes | 2 violins, viola | D major | 2 ⁄ 4 |
| 2 | Lord, as far as the clouds go | Picander | aria | tenor | 2 violins | A major | Tempo ordinario (4/4) | |
| 3 | You sweet Jesus name you | Picander | recitative | Old | 4/4 | |||
| 4th | Jesus should be my first word | Picander | aria | soprano | Violin solo | D major | 12/8 | |
| 5 | And since you said, Lord | Picander | recitative | bass | 2 oboes | A major | 4/4, ⅜, 4/4 | |
| 6th | Let's finish the year | Johann Hermann | Chorale | Soprano, alto, tenor, bass | 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 oboes | 2 violins, viola | B minor | 4/4, ¾ |
sentences
Sentence 1
The first sentence, “God, like your name, so is your glory to the end of the world”, which deals with the universal praise of God's name , is a choral fugue . While the trumpets are independent, the string instruments and oboes double the voices in the style of Bach's motets . The fugue theme is played by the first trumpet. The Bach researcher Alfred Dürr assumes that this work was probably not a new composition, but the revision of an older (lost) movement, which was the basis for this movement as well as for the later "Patrem omnipotentem" from the Credo in B minor -Messe was. In both works the music describes the idea of a world-wide almighty power of God.
John Eliot Gardiner , who directed the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, summarized: “The way the fugue unfolds with strings and oboes by Colla parte is old-style and motet-like. But then, after twenty-three bars, Bach brings his first trumpet for a sparkling repetition of the theme and the music suddenly takes on a new luster and seems to advance into another sphere for this assertion of God's all-embracing rule and power. "
Sentence 2
The tenor aria “Herr, as far die Wolken goes” is accompanied by two instruments that are not listed in the score of the manuscript. The range could indicate violins.
Sentence 3
The secco recitative “You sweet Jesus name you” is sung by the alto. The musicologist Julian Mincham notes the development from the initial F sharp minor , which illustrates “introverted contemplation ”, to the “secure assertion” in D major .
Sentence 4
The soprano aria "Jesus shall be my first word in the new year" is the parody of an aria from the secular cantata Zerreiet, Zersprenget, Smashed the Crypt , BWV 205, in which a virtuoso solo violin represents a gentle wind while in the Church cantata serves as a solo violin in praise of the name Jesus.
Sentence 5
A three-part bass recitative "And you, sir, said" begins as arioso that only by basso accompanied, results of two oboes accompany prayers and at the end to an arioso with the oboe.
Sentence 6
The concluding chorale “Let's complete the year” comes from Bach's cantata Jesu, now be praised , BWV 41, which was written in 1725 for the same occasion. While the earlier cantata used the third stanza, this cantata uses the second and is transposed . The chorale matches the opening choir, as the voices are also reinforced by oboes and string instruments, while trumpets and timpani play weighty interludes.
Recordings
The recordings are taken from the Bach Cantatas website . Recordings that were recorded as historical performance practice are marked.
- Wolfgang Gönnenwein , South German Madrigal Choir , South West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim / Herrad Wehrung , Emmy Lisken , Georg Jelden , Jakob Stämpfli . JS Bach: Cantatas BWV 171 & BWV 127 . Cantate , 1961
- Helmuth Rilling , Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart , Bach-Collegium Stuttgart / Arleen Augér , Julia Hamari , Aldo Baldin , Walter Heldwein . The Bach Cantata Vol. 20 . Hänssler Classic , 1983
- Karl Richter , Munich Bach Choir , Munich Bach Orchestra / Edith Mathis , Hertha Töpper , Peter Schreier , Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau . Bach Cantatas Vol. 1 - Advent and Christmas . Archive production , 1971
- Nikolaus Harnoncourt , Tölzer Knabenchor , Concentus Musicus Wien / Kurt Equiluz , Robert Holl . JS Bach: The Cantata Work • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Series / Vol. 40 - BWV 170–174 (historical performance practice). Teldec , 1987
- Pieter Jan Leusink , Holland Boys Choir , Netherlands Bach Collegium / Ruth Holton , Sytse Buwalda , Marcel Beekman , Bas Ramselaar . Bach Edition Vol. 12 - Cantatas Vol. 6 (historical performance practice). Brilliant Classics, 1999
- John Eliot Gardiner , Monteverdi Choir , English Baroque Soloists / Ruth Holton , Lucy Ballard , James Gilchrist , Peter Harvey . Bach Cantatas Vol. 17: Berlin / For New Year's Day / For the Sunday after New Year (historical performance practice). Soli Deo Gloria, 2000
- Ton Koopman , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir / Sandrine Piau , Bogna Bartosz , Christoph Prégardien , Klaus Mertens . JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 19 (historical performance practice). Antoine Marchand, 2003
- Masaaki Suzuki , Bach Collegium Japan / Rachel Nicholls , Robin Blaze , Gerd Türk , Peter Kooij . JS Bach: Cantatas Vol. 49 - BWV 156, 159, 171, 188 (historical performance practice). BIS Records , 2010
Web links
- BWV 171 God, like your name, so is your fame Text, structure and composition on the personal homepage of Walter F. Bischof at the University of Alberta
- God, like your name, so is your fame, BWV 171 : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Pamela Dellal: BWV 171 - "God, like your name, so is your fame" . Emmanuel Music. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ↑ a b c Christoph Wolff : The cantatas of the period 1726-1731 and of the Picander cycle (1728-29) . Bach Cantatas website. Pp. 12-13. 2003. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d God, like your name, so is your glory BWV 171; BC A 24 / Spiritual Cantata (New Year, Feast of the Circumcision of Christ) . Bach digital . 2019. Accessed December 5, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Alfred Dürr, Richard DP Jones: The Cantatas of JS Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text . Oxford University Press , 2006, ISBN 0-19-929776-2 , pp. 41, 154-157.
- ↑ a b c Klaus Hofmann : BWV 171 God, like your name, so is your fame / According to Thy Name, O God, So Is Thy Praise . Bach Cantatas website. Pp. 7-8. 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ↑ a b Walter F. Bischof: BWV 171 God, like your name, so is your glory . University of Alberta . Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ↑ Jochen Grob: BWV 171 / BC A 24 . s-line.de. 2014. Accessed December 23, 2015.
- ^ A b John Eliot Gardiner: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) / Cantatas Nos 16, 41, 58, 143, 153 & 171 . Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). 2008. Accessed December 31, 2018.
- ↑ Julian Mincham: Chapter 39 BWV 171 God, like your name, so is your fame / God, as is Your Name, so is Your Renown. . jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ↑ Aryeh Oron: Cantata BWV 171 God, like your name, so is your glory . Bach Cantatas website. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
