Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190

Last updated
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
BWV 190
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
Thomaskirche Interior.jpg
Thomaskirche, Leipzig
Relatedbase for BWV 190a
Occasion New Year's Day
Bible text
Chorale
Performed1 January 1724 (1724-01-01): Leipzig
Movements7
Vocal
  • SATB choir
  • alto, tenor and bass solo
Instrumental
  • 3 trumpets
  • timpani
  • 3 oboes
  • oboe d'amore
  • 2 violins
  • viola
  • continuo

Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (Sing a new song to the Lord), [1] BWV 190, [lower-alpha 1] is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote it in Leipzig for the New Year's Day and first performed it on 1 January 1724 as part of his first cantata cycle. He adapted it in 1730 to Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190a , for the celebration of the bicentennial of the Augsburg Confession.

Contents

History and words

Bach wrote the cantata in 1723, his first year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, for New Year's Day, which is also the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Epistle to the Galatians, by faith we inherit (Galatians3:23–29), and from the Gospel of Luke, the circumcision and naming of Jesus eight days after his birth (Luke2:21). The unknown poet, possibly Picander, refers only in a general way to the readings: he mentions the naming at the end of movement 4, "Jesu Namen" (name of Jesus), and he starts every line in the following aria with "Jesus". Otherwise the text stresses praise and thanks for the gifts of the past and prayer for further blessings. [2] The poet compiled for the opening chorus a verse from Psalm 149 (Psalms149:1), three verses from Psalm 150 (Psalms150:4,6), and in between the first two lines of Martin Luther's "Deutsches Tedeum" (German Te Deum) " Herr Gott, dich loben wir " (Lord God, Thee we praise). [3] The words from the "Te Deum" appear again in the second movement, interspersed by recitative. The closing chorale is the second stanza of Johannes Hermann's "Jesu, nun sei gepreiset" (1591). [2]

Bach first performed the cantata on 1 January 1724. He performed it again in the second half of the 1730s. Probably in Bach's revision process, parts of the original music got lost: for the first two movements only the vocal parts and the violin parts survived. Reconstruction of the missing parts was attempted by Bernhard Todt (1904), Walther Reinhart (1948), Olivier Alain (1971), Diethard Hellmann (1995), [4] Ton Koopman and Levente Gyöngyösi, Masaaki Suzuki and Masato Suzuki (2012).

In his Christmas Oratorio of 1734, Bach dedicated the complete Part IV for New Year's Day to the naming of Jesus, told in the one verse from the Gospel of Luke, first performed on 1 January 1735.

Scoring and structure

Luca della Robbia: Cantoria, Psalm 150 Cantoria luca della robbia22.jpg
Luca della Robbia: Cantoria, Psalm 150

The cantata in seven movements is festively scored for alto, tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir, three trumpets, timpani, three oboes, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo including bassoon. [2] The instrumentation is known from the extant closing chorale, although most parts for the first movements are lost. [5]

  1. Chorus: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
  2. Chorale and recitative (alto, tenor, bass): Herr Gott, dich loben wir
  3. Aria (alto, strings): Lobe, Zion, deinen Gott
  4. Recitative (bass): Es wünsche sich die Welt
  5. Aria (tenor, bass, oboe d'amore): Jesus soll mein alles sein
  6. Recitative (tenor, strings): Nun, Jesus gebe
  7. Chorale: Laß uns das Jahr vollbringen

Music

The opening chorus on three psalm verses and two lines from Luther's "Tedeum" is a complex architecture in three sections. A concerto Singet dem Herrn is concluded by the liturgical melody of "Herr Gott, dich loben wir" in unison, a choral fugue "Alles was Odem hat" (Everything that has breath) is concluded by a similar "Herr Gott, wir danken dir", the final section Halleluja is a shortened reprise of the first.

In the second movement, the liturgical melody is set four-part and interrupted by recitatives. The following alto aria is dance-like and simple, the duet is accompanied by an obbligato instrument which may be oboe d'amore or violin. Gardiner tried both, but then chose a viola d'amore instead. Neither movement has a da capo. The strings intensify the prayer of the last recitative. The choir of trumpets marks the ending of every line in the closing chorale. [2] [5]

Recordings

Notes

  1. ↑ "BWV" is Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, a thematic catalogue of Bach's works.

Related Research Articles

The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a, was published in 1998.

<i>Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen</i>, BWV 11 Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach (1729)

Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11, known as the Ascension Oratorio, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, marked by him as Oratorium In Festo Ascensionis Xsti, probably composed in 1735 for the service for Ascension and first performed on 19 May 1735.

<i>Herr Gott, dich loben wir</i>, BWV 16

Herr Gott, dich loben wir, BWV 16, is a church cantata for New Year's Day by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first performed on 1 January 1726 in Leipzig, as part of the composer's third cantata cycle. Its libretto is by Georg Christian Lehms, opening with the beginning of "Herr Gott, dich loben wir", Luther's German Te Deum. The cantata's text was completed with a stanza from Paul Eber's "Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen" for the closing chorale.

<i>Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes</i>, BWV 40 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in 1723, his first year in Leipzig, for the Second Day of Christmas, and first performed it on 26 December that year in both main churches, Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche. It was the first Christmas cantata Bach composed for Leipzig. The title of the cantata also appears in more modern German as Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes.

<i>Jesu, nun sei gepreiset</i>, BWV 41

Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, BWV 41, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for New Year's Day and first performed it on 1 January 1725 as part of his second cantata cycle. It is based on the hymn by Johannes Hermann (1591).

<i>Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille</i>, BWV 120 Sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120.1, is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the occasion of Ratswechsel, the inauguration of a new town council in a church service, probably before 1730, or, alternatively, in 1742. Parts of the cantata appeared in a wedding cantata and a cantata commemorating the Augsburg Confession in 1730. Bach reworked the choral second movement for the Symbolum Nicenum of his Mass in B minor.

Herr Gott, dich loben wir

"Herr Gott, dich loben wir" is a Lutheran hymn, which Martin Luther wrote in 1529 as a translation and partial paraphrase of the Latin Te Deum. It is sometimes called the German Te Deum. The hymn was first published in 1529. Its hymn tune, Zahn No. 8652, is a simplification of the melody of the traditional Te Deum. It has appeared in 24 hymnals.

<i>Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge</i>, BWV 120a

Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120.2, is a wedding cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed and first performed it in Leipzig, most likely in 1729.

<i>Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele</i>, BWV 69

Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 69, also BWV 69.2, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.

<i>Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens</i>, BWV 148

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, BWV 148, probably in 1723 in Leipzig for the 17th Sunday after Trinity.

<i>Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ</i>, BWV 116 Chorale cantate by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 116, in Leipzig for the 25th Sunday after Trinity. He led the first performance on 26 November 1724, concluding the liturgical year of 1724.

<i>Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied</i>, BWV 190a

Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 90.2, BWV 190a, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The work was written in 1730 in commemoration of the Augsburg Confession.

<i>Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß</i>, BWV 134

Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß , BWV 134, is a church cantata for Easter by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata for the third day of Easter in Leipzig and first performed it on 11 April 1724. He based it on his congratulatory cantata Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a, first performed in Köthen on 1 January 1719.

<i>Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn</i>, BWV 119 Sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach 1723

Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn, BWV 119, is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Ratswechsel, the inauguration of a new town council, and first performed it on 30 August 1723.

<i>Christum wir sollen loben schon</i>, BWV 121

Christum wir sollen loben schon, BWV 121, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed this Christmas cantata in Leipzig in 1724 for the second day of Christmas and first performed it on 26 December 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn by Martin Luther "Christum wir sollen loben schon".

<i>Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott</i>, BWV 101

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101 in Leipzig for the tenth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 13 August 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn by Martin Moller (1584).

<i>Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut</i>, BWV 113

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut, BWV 113 in Leipzig for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 20 August 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn "Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut" by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt (1588).

<i>Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir</i>, BWV 130

Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130, is a chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for the Feast of archangel Michael. The oldest known version of the cantata (BWV 130.1) was performed on that feast day in 1724 during Bach's second year in Leipzig. The cantata is scored for SATB soloists and choir, three trumpets, timpani, traverso, three oboes, strings and continuo.

Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut, BWV 117, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig between 1728 and 1731 for no specific occasion, based on the hymn by Johann Jacob Schütz.

<i>Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend</i>, BWV 248 II Second cantata of Johann Sebastian Bachs Christmas Oratorio

Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, BWV 248II, is a 1734 Christmas cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach as the second part of his Christmas Oratorio. Bach was then Thomaskantor, responsible for music at four churches in Leipzig, a position he had assumed in 1723.

References

  1. ↑ Dellal, Pamela (2021). "BWV 190 – Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied!". pameladellal.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp.  149–150. ISBN   3-423-04080-7.
  3. ↑ Ambrose, Z. Philip. "BWV 190a Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied". University of Vermont . Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Bach, J. S.: Cantata BWV 190 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied". Breitkopf & Härtel. 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  5. 1 2 Gardiner, John Eliot (2007). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 28, 122, 152 & 190 (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 31 December 2018.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.