Gott, gib dein Gerichte dem Könige, BWV Anh. 3

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Statue of Bach at St Nicholas Church Vxla-jsbach-at-nikolaikirche.jpg
Statue of Bach at St Nicholas Church

Gott, gib dein Gerichte dem Könige (God, give now thy judgement unto the King), BWV  1140 (formerly BWV Anh. 3), is a lost church cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. [1] Bach composed the work in Leipzig in 1730 for a civic occasion, the Ratswechsel (the inauguration of a new town council). [2]

A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during a liturgical service. The liturgical calendar of the German Reformation era had, without counting Reformation Day and days between Palm Sunday and Easter, 72 occasions for which a cantata could be presented. Composers like Georg Philipp Telemann composed cycles of church cantatas comprising all 72 of these occasions. Such a cycle is called an "ideal" cycle, while in any given liturgical year feast days could coincide with Sundays, and the maximum amount of Sundays after Epiphany and the maximum amount of Sundays after Trinity could not all occur.

Johann Sebastian Bach German composer

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Art of Fugue, the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Goldberg Variations as well as for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Leipzig Place in Saxony, Germany

Leipzig is the most populous city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. With a population of 581,980 inhabitants as of 2017, it is Germany's tenth most populous city. Leipzig is located about 160 kilometres (99 mi) southwest of Berlin at the confluence of the White Elster, Pleiße and Parthe rivers at the southern end of the North German Plain.

Five of the cantatas for the Ratswechsel which Bach wrote in Leipzig have survived. The event was usually held annually in St. Nicholas Church. As it was a festive occasion, Bach would presumably have included trumpets in the orchestra for this lost cantata.

St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig Church in Leipzig, Germany

The St. Nicholas Church is one of the major churches of central Leipzig, Germany. Construction started in Romanesque style in 1165, but in the 16th century, the church was turned into a Gothic hall church. Baroque elements like the tower were added in the 18th century.

Text

The text is by Picander, who draws on the psalms. It was published in 1732. [1]

Picander German poet

Christian Friedrich Henrici, writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig.

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Bach's first cantata cycle refers to the church cantatas Johann Sebastian Bach composed for the somewhat less than 60 occasions of the liturgical year of his first year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig which required concerted music. That year ran from the first Sunday after Trinity in 1723 to Trinity Sunday of the next year:

  1. Trinity I, 30 May 1723: Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75
  2. Trinity II, 6 June 1723: Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76
  3. Trinity III, 13 June 1723: Weimar cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21 restaged
  4. Trinity IV, 20 June 1723: Ein ungefärbt Gemüte, BWV 24, and Weimar cantata Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe, BWV 185 restaged
  5. Nativity of St. John the Baptist, 24 June 1723: Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe, BWV 167; Possibly also the Sanctus in C major, BWV 237 was composed for this occasion.
  6. Trinity V, 27 June 1723: no extant cantata
  7. Visitation, 2 July 1723: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 and possibly Magnificat in E-flat major, BWV 243a
  8. Trinity VI, 4 July 1723: no extant cantata
  9. Trinity VII, 11 July 1723: Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186
  10. Trinity VIII, 18 July 1723: Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136
  11. Trinity IX, 25 July 1723: Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105
  12. Trinity X, 1 August 1723: Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei, BWV 46
  13. Trinity XI, 8 August 1723: Siehe zu, daß deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei, BWV 179 and Weimar cantata Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199 restaged
  14. Trinity XII, 15 August 1723: Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 69a
  15. Trinity XIII, 22 August 1723: Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben, BWV 77
  16. Trinity XIV, 29 August 1723: Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe, BWV 25
  17. (30 August 1723, Ratswechsel: not part of the liturgical year, see below)
  18. Trinity XV, 5 September 1723: Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, BWV 138
  19. Trinity XVI, 12 September 1723: Christus, der ist mein Leben, BWV 95
  20. Trinity XVII, 19 September 1723: Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, BWV 148
  21. Trinity XVIII, 26 September 1723: no extant cantata
  22. St. Michael's Day, 29 September 1723: no extant cantata
  23. Trinity XIX, 3 October 1723: Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen, BWV BWV 48
  24. Trinity XX, 10 October 1723: Weimar cantata Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162 restaged
  25. Trinity XXI, 17 October 1723: Ich glaube, lieber Herr, hilf meinem Unglauben, BWV 109
  26. Trinity XXII, 24 October 1723: Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim, BWV 89
  27. Reformation Day, 31 October 1723 : possibly Weimar cantata Nur jedem das Seine, BWV 163 restaged; Alternatively an early version of BWV 80/80b?
  28. Trinity XXIV, 7 November 1723: O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 60
  29. Trinity XXV, 14 November 1723: Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende, BWV 90
  30. Trinity XXVI, 21 November 1723: Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! BWV 70
  31. Advent I, 28 November 1723: Weimar cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61 restaged
  32. Christmas, 25 December 1723: Weimar cantata Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 restaged; Also Magnificat, BWV 243a and Sanctus in D major, BWV 238
  33. Second Day of Christmas, 26 December 1723: Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40
  34. Third Day of Christmas, 27 December 1723: Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget, BWV 64
  35. New Year, 1 January 1724: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190
  36. Sunday after New Year, 2 January 1724: Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, BWV 153
  37. Epiphany, 6 January 1724: Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65
  38. Epiphany I, 9 January 1724: Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren, BWV 154
  39. Epiphany II, 16 January 1724: Weimar cantata Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155 restaged
  40. Epiphany III, 23 January 1724: Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir, BWV 73
  41. Epiphany IV, 30 January 1724: Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen? BWV 81
  42. Purification, 2 February 1724: Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bunde, BWV 83
  43. Septuagesima, 6 February 1724: Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin, BWV 144
  44. Sexagesima, 13 February 1724: Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister, BWV 181 and Weimar cantata Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18 restaged in its Leipzig version
  45. Estomihi, 7 February 1723 and 20 February 1724 : Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22 and Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn, BWV 23 restaged in its first Leipzig version
  46. Annunciation and Palm Sunday 25 March 1724: Siehe eine Jungfrau ist schwanger, BWV 1135 and Weimar cantata Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, BWV 182 restaged
  47. (Good Friday, 7 April 1724: St John Passion, BWV 245, 1st version — Passion, not considered as a cantata part of the cycle)
  48. Easter, 9 April 1724: early cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4 restaged ; Weimar cantata Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31 restaged
  49. Easter Monday, 10 April 1724: Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66
  50. Easter Tuesday, 11 April 1724: Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134
  51. Quasimodogeniti, 16 April 1724: Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ, BWV 67
  52. Misericordias Domini, 23 April 1724: Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104
  53. Jubilate, 30 April 1724: Weimar cantate Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12 restaged in a version with a slightly modified instrumentation
  54. Cantate, 7 May 1724: Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166
  55. Rogate, 14 May 1724: Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch, BWV BWV 86
  56. Ascension, 18 May 1724: Wer da gläubet und getauft wird, BWV 37
  57. Exaudi, 21 May 1724: Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 44
  58. Pentecost, 28 May 1724: Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 59 and Weimar cantata Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172 restaged in its first Leipzig version (D major)
  59. Pentecost Monday, 29 May 1724: no extant cantata
  60. Pentecost Tuesday, 30 May 1724: Erwünschtes Freudenlicht, BWV 184
  61. Trinity, 4 June 1724: Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest, BWV 194, originally a consecration cantata, restaged in its first Leipzig version
Bachs early cantatas

Johann Sebastian Bach started composing cantatas around 1707, when he was still an organist in Arnstadt. The first documented performances of his work take place in Mühlhausen, where he was appointed in 1708.

Picander's cycle of 1728–29 is a cycle of church cantata librettos covering the liturgical year. It was published for the first time in 1728 as Cantaten auf die Sonn- und Fest-Tage durch das gantze Jahr. Johann Sebastian Bach set several of these librettos to music, but it is unknown whether he covered a substantial part of the cycle. This elusive cycle of cantata settings is indicated as the composer's fourth Leipzig cycle, or the Picander cycle.

Johann Sebastian Bach worked at the ducal court in Weimar from 1708 to 1717. The composition of cantatas for the Schlosskirche on a regular monthly basis started with his promotion to Konzertmeister in March 1714.

Church cantatas of Bachs third to fifth year in Leipzig

On Trinity Sunday 27 May 1725 Johann Sebastian Bach had presented the last cantata of his second cantata cycle, the cycle which coincided with his second year in Leipzig. As director musices of the principal churches in Leipzig he presented a variety of cantatas over the next three years. New cantatas for occasions of the liturgical year composed in this period, except for a few in the chorale cantata format, are known as Bach's third cantata cycle. His next cycle of church cantatas, the Picander cycle, did not start before St. John's Day 24 June 1728.

Late church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach refers to sacred cantatas he composed after his fourth cycle of 1728–29. Whether Bach still composed a full cantata cycle in the last 20 years of his life is not known, but the extant cantatas of this period written for occasions of the liturgical year are sometimes referred to as his fifth cycle, as, according to his obituary, he would have written five such cycles – inasmuch as such cantatas were not late additions to earlier cycles, or were adopted in his oratorios.

References

  1. 1 2 Work 1310 at Bach Digital website.
  2. ↑ "Cantata BWV Anh 3". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 25 June 2013.


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