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Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91

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Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (Praise be to You, Jesus Christ),[1] BWV 91, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote the Christmas cantata in Leipzig in 1724 for Christmas Day and first performed it on 25 December. It is based on the hymn "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" by Martin Luther which was 200 years old when Bach wrote the work.

Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
BWV 91
by J. S. Bach
Martin Luther, author of the hymn, in 1533 by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Chorale"Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ"
by Martin Luther
Performed25 December 1724 (1724-12-25): Leipzig
Movements6
VocalSATB choir and solo
Instrumental
  • 2 horns
  • timpani
  • 3 oboes
  • 2 violins
  • viola
  • continuo

The cantata belongs to Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the second cantata cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. The cantata text retains the first and last stanza of the chorale unchanged for a chorale fantasiaand a four-part chorale setting, while an unknown librettist paraphrased the inner stanzas into alternating recitatives and arias.

The cantata is scored for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns, timpani, three oboes, strings and basso continuo.

History and words

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The chorale cantata from Bach's chorale cantata cycle is based on the main chorale for Christmas Day, Luther's "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ". It was published in 1524, thus 200 years old when Bach composed his work.[2] Its beginning summarizes Christmas in two lines: "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, daß du Mensch geboren bist" (Praise be to You, Jesus Christ, since You were born a man).[1] All seven stanzas end with the acclamation Kyrieleis. The cantata was Bach's first composed for Christmas Day in Leipzig; in his first year in Leipzig 1723 he had chosen to perform Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 again, written for the occasion earlier in Weimar.[3]

The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Epistle to Titus, "God's mercy appeared" (Titus 2:11–14) alternating with Isaiah, "Unto us a child is born" (Isaiah 9:2–7), and from the Gospel of Luke, the Nativity, Annunciation to the shepherds and the angels' song (Luke 2:1–14). Typical for Bach's chorale cantata cycle, an unknown librettist retained the first and the last stanza unchanged, but transformed ideas of the inner stanzas stanzas into alternating recitatives and arias.[2] In this cantatas, the complete text of the second stanza was also retained for the first recitative but expanded line by line with new text.[2]

Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance of the cantata on 25 December 1724.[4][2] He performed the cantata again four more times on 25 December, in 1731, in 1732 or 1733, and twice in the 1740s,[4] even after his Christmas Oratorio had been first performed in 1734 for which he also used two stanzas of the same chorale.

Music

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Structure and scoring

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Bach structured the cantata in six movements. Both text and tune of the hymn are retained in the outer movements, a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale.[5] Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns (Co), timpani (Ti), three oboes (Ob), two violin parts (Vl), a viola part (Va) and basso continuo.[4]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr's standard work Die Kantaten von J. S. Bach.[5] The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91
No. Title Text Type Vocal Winds Strings Key Time
1 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ Luther Chorale fantasia SATB 2Co Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va G major  
2 Der Glanz der höchsten Herrlichkeit anon., Luther Recitative and chorale S  
3 Gott, dem der Erden Kreis zu klein anon. Aria T 3Ob C major 3
4
4 O Christenheit! Wohlan anon. Recitative B 2Vl Va  
5 Die Armut, so Gott auf sich nimmt anon. Aria Duetto SA 2Vl E minor  
6 Das hat er alles uns getan Luther Chorale SATB 2Co Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va G major  

Movements

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1

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The opening chorus, "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (All praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ),[2]makes use of four choirs: the voices, the horns, the oboes and the strings. The material from the ritornellos, running scales against sustained thirds in the horns,[6] is present also in interludes between the five lines and as accompaniment for the vocal parts. The choral melody is sung by the soprano. The lower voices are set in imitation for the first and the last line, in chords for the second and fourth line, and in a combination in the central line[5] "Von einer Jungfrau, das ist wahr" (From a virgin, this is true).[1] John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, noted the 17th-century roots of the movement.[6]

2

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A recitative for soprano, "Der Glanz der höchsten Herrlichkeit" (The radiance of the highest glory),[1] prepares each line of the chorale stanza with contemporary lines. While the new text is set as secco recitative, the chorale lines use the chorale tune, accompanied by a repetition of the first line of the chorale in double tempo.[5]

3

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The tenor aria, "Gott, dem der Erden Kreis zu klein" (God, for whom the orb of the earth is too small),[1] is accompanied by three oboes.[5][6]

4

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In a recitative for bass, "O Christenheit! Wohlan, so mache die bereit" (O Christianity! Now then, make yourself ready),[1] the strings illuminate the voice.[5] It is slow accompagnato that refers in chromatic to the "vale of tears".[6]

5

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The last aria, "Die Armut, so Gott auf sich nimmt" (The poverty that God takes upon himself),[1] is a duet for , contrasting "Armut" (poverty) and "Überfluss" (abundance), "Menschlich Wesen" (human being), rendered in chromatic upward lines, and "Engelsherrlichkeiten" (angelic splendours),[1] shown in coloraturas and triadic melodies.[5] The violins in unison play a dotted motif. Bach reworked thr cantata in the 1730s and then added "lilting syncopations" to the voices, illustrating people trying to sing like angels.[6]

6

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At times the horns have independent parts in the closing chorale,[7] "Das hat er alles uns getan" He has done all this for us),[1]; they embellish especially the final Kyrieleis[5] to what Gardiner called "a rousing two-bar cadence".[6]

Recordings

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A list of recordings is provided on the Bach Cantatas Website.[8][9] Ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are shown with a green background.

Recordings of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
Title Conductor / Choir / Orchestra Soloists Label Year Orch. type
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 5' Gustav Leonhardt
Concentus Musicus Wien
Teldec 1979 (1979) Period
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 47 Helmuth Rilling
Gächinger Kantorei
Hänssler 1984 (1984)
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 20 Ton Koopman
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
Antoine Marchand 2000 (2000) Period
Bach Edition Vol. 14 – Cantatas Vol. 7 Pieter Jan Leusink
Holland Boys Choir
Netherlands Bach Collegium
Brilliant Classics 2000 (2000) Period
Bach Cantatas Vol. 14: New York[6] John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
Soli Deo Gloria 2000 (2000) Period
J. S. Bach: Christmas Cantatas from Leipzig Philippe Herreweghe
Collegium Vocale Gent
Harmonia Mundi Franc 2014 (2014) Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 31 Cantatas from Leipzig 1724 – BWV 10, 93, 107, 178 Masaaki Suzuki
Bach Collegium Japan
BIS 2004 (2004) Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 31 Cantatas from Leipzig 1724 – BWV 10, 93, 107, 178 Rudolf Lutz
Choir & orchestra of the J. S. Bach-Stiftung
J. S. Bach-Stiftung 2016 (2016) Period

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dellal 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Schulze 2006.
  3. ^ Mincham 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Bach Digital 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Dürr 1981.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Gardiner 2005.
  7. ^ Dahn 2024.
  8. ^ Oron 2024.
  9. ^ Muziekweb 2024.

Cited sources

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