Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137

Praise to the Lord, the King of Heaven ( BWV 137 ) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1725 for the 12th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on for the first time on August 19, 1725.

History and words

Bach composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1725 for the 12th Sunday after Trinity in his third year in Leipzig. He added his second with her cantata cycle in which lacked a cantata for this Sunday.

The prescribed readings for the Sunday were 2 Cor 3.4 to 11 LUT Paul about the " clarity of mind ", and Mk 7.31 to 37 LUT, the healing of a deaf-mute. The cantata text is the song by Joachim Neander fünfstrophige Praise to the Lord, the King of Heaven ( 1680). The general praise and thanksgiving song refers not directly affect the readings. Notwithstanding almost all chorale cantatas of the second cycle of Bach 's words kept unchanged. This and the festive line-up with trumpets and timpani suggest John Eliot Gardiner, that the cantata was also making music in worship Board election. Bach used the 1729 final chorale, transposed to D major to complete the wedding cantata Lord God, ruler of all things, BWV 120a.

Scoring and structure

The cantata is festively decorated with four soloists, soprano, alto, tenor and bass, four-part choir, three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo.

Music

As observed Alfred Dürr and Gardiner, not only the text but also the melody of the chorale in all sets is present. The cantata is symmetrical. In the outer movements, the melody is in the soprano, in Theorem 2, it is sung by the Old, in sentence 4, it plays the trumpet as a cantus firmus for the aria. In the central and intimate set, a duet between soprano and bass, the topics beginnings of voices and the accompanying instruments are derived from its beginning. The melody in bar form reached after an unusual tunnel of five clocks at the beginning of Abgesang culminating accented differently by Bach.

In the opening chorus of trumpets, oboes and strings play a concerto, the soprano sings the cantus firmus, prepared respectively by the lower voices in imitatischem theorem on the instrumental motives. The words "Come to Hauf, psaltery and harp, wake up " are highlighted by homophonic.

In sentence 2, a violin accompanies the ornamented chorale melody. Bach took over this sentence in his Schübler chorales, but on the Advent text "Are you now, Jesus, from heaven down to earth."

In great contrast to the C major and G major is the central duet in E minor, in which the two duet obbligato oboe. In an unusual way it sounds, the first vocal section three more times, only the words " In much distress " are out indicated by chromatic finish.

Sentence 4 is in A minor, but to play the trumpet the cantus firmus in C major. Similarly, Bach later embedded in the final chorus of his Christmas Oratorio Chorale in the Doric a concerto in D major one. The independent voice quoted several times sections of the chorale melody. The words "Remember " are highlighted by deviant meter.

Bach made ​​the final chorale magnificently for four voices and three independent trumpet parts.

Recordings

• Bach Made in Germany Vol 1 - Cantatas VII Günther Ramin, St. Thomas Boys Choir, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, soloists from the St. Thomas Boys Choir, Helmut Krebs, Franz Kelch, Eterna 1953
• JS Bach: Cantatas BWV 137 & BWV 190 Hans Thamm, Windsbacher Boys Choir, Consortium Musicum, Teresa Zylis - Gara, Ingeborg soot, Peter Schreier, Franz Crass, EMI 1966
• Les Grandes Cantates de J. S. Bach Vol 27, Fritz Werner, Heinrich-Schütz -Chor Heilbronn, Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, Ingeborg Reichelt, Barbara Scherler, Friedrich Melzer, Bruce Abel, Erato 1973
• Bach Cantatas Vol 4 - Sundays after Trinity I. Karl Richter, Munich Bach Choir, Munich Bach Orchestra, Edith Mathis, Julia Hamari, Peter Schreier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Archiv Produktion, 1977.
• The Bach Cantata Vol 10 Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Arleen Augér, Gabriele terror Bach, Adalbert Kraus, Walter Held wine. Hänssler, 1982.
• Bach Made in Germany Vol 4 - Cantatas IV Hans -Joachim Rotzsch, St. Thomas Choir, New Bachisches Collegium Musicum, Arleen Augér, Ortrun Wenkel, Peter Schreier, Theo Adam. Eterna, 1982.
• JS Bach: The cantatas - Sacred Cantatas Vol 2 Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Tölz Boys Choir & Chorus Viennensis, Concentus Musicus Wien, soloist of the Tölz Boys Choir, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Albert Hartinger. Teldec, 1983.
• Bach Edition Vol 19 - Cantatas Vol 10 Pieter Jan Leusink, Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Marjon Strijk, Sytse Buwalda, Knut Schoch, Bas Ramselaar. Brilliant Classics, 2000.
• Bach Cantatas Vol 6: Köthen / Frankfurt. John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Katharine Fuge, Robin Tyson and Christoph Genz, Peter Harvey. Soli Deo Gloria, 2000.
• JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol 18 Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Johan Zomer, Christoph Prégardien, Klaus Mertens. Antoine Marchand, 2002.
• JS Bach: Cantatas Vol 40 Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Yukari Nonoshita, Robin Blaze, Makoto Sakurada, Peter Kooij. BIS, 2007.
• Praise to the Lord, the King of Heaven. Rudolf Lutz, choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation, Miriam Feuersinger, Claude Eichenberger, John Kaleschke, Markus Volpert. Martin Johann Stähli ( reflection). DVD. Gallus Media, 2010.