Christum wir sollen loben schon, BWV 121
Now praise we Christ ( BWV 121) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Formation
The cantata was composed for the Boxing Day and first performed on December 26, 1724. It is one of Bach's second Leipzig cantata cycle, comprising mainly chorale cantatas, works, goes back to the text of a Protestant hymn. Initial and final verse of the song are thereby retained verbatim, while the remaining verses are rewritten to madrigalesque recitatives and arias.
Topic
Text template is Martin Luther's Christmas Carol Christ praise we, a Germanization of Early Church A solis ortus cardine. Luther's first and eighth stanza are sung unchanged, while the tenor aria of the second to match the alto recitative of the third and fourth, the fifth, and the bass aria soprano recitative of the sixth and seventh song in free verse following. Theme is the miracle of the birth of the eternal Son of God as a child of a virgin in " poverty and a slave". Unlike other Bach cantatas December 26, here the Stephanustag does not matter.
Musical agent
The input set is a chorale motet on the quasi- tonal church cantus firmus. Its archaic effect emphasizes Bach nor by the full four-part wind accompaniment.
The second movement is a modern da capo aria in which the symmetric scheme is, however, broken by irregular periodization and harmonization - surely a reference to the " irregularity " of the unsung events.
The secco recitative No. 3 amazed return through a unique in Bach's work harmony twist to the closing words: So vorbereitungslos and outrageous as this harmonious bend God comes to the world.
The bass aria is the lightest element of the plant. Almost dance -like, in a catchy imitatorischem game without harmonic abysses she paints the joyful jumping John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth when visiting Mary, carrying the unborn Jesus.
The recitative No. 5 passes through with the invitation to praise and thanksgiving to the final doxology stanza, a four-part chorale setting which illuminates the early church melody in major-minor tonality modern.