''Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied'' (''Sing unto the Lord a new song''), BWV 225, is a
motet
In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...
by
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
. It was first performed in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
around (probably) 1727. The text of the three-movement motet is in German: after
Psalm 149
Psalm 149 is the 149th psalm of the Book of Psalms, a hymn as the book's penultimate piece. The first verse of the psalm calls to praise in singing, in English in the King James Version: "Sing a new song unto the Lord". Similar to Psalm 96 and P ...
for its first movement (), the third stanza of "
Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren" (a 1530
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
after
Psalm 103
Psalm 103 is the 103rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Bless the , O my soul". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. In Latin ...
by
Johann Gramann) for the second movement, and after
Psalm 150
Psalm 150 is the 150th and final psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Praise ye the . Praise God in his sanctuary". In Latin, it is known as "Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius". In Psalm 150, the psalmist ...
:2 and 6 for its third movement .
The motet is described as being for double-choir (in other words eight voices divided into two four-part choirs). It may have been composed to provide choral exercises for Bach's students at the
Thomasschule
St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...
. The motet's biblical text would have been suited to that purpose. The final four-part fugue is titled "Alles was Odem hat" ("All that have voice, praise the Lord!").
Robert Marshall writes that it is "certain" that this motet was one heard by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
when he visited Leipzig's
Thomasschule
St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...
in 1789.
Johann Friedrich Rochlitz
Johann Friedrich Rochlitz (12 February 1769 – 16 December 1842) was a German playwright, musicologist and art and music critic. His most notable work is his autobiographical account ''Tage der Gefahr'' (''Days of Danger'') about the Battle o ...
, who graduated from the
Thomasschule
St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...
and remained in Leipzig to study theology in 1789, reported ten years later that
Johann Friedrich Doles (a student of Bach, who through 1789 was
cantor of the Thomasschule and director of the
Thomanerchor) "surprised Mozart with a performance of the double-choir motet ''Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied'' by Sebastian Bach... he was told that the school possessed a complete collection of his motets and preserved them as a sort of sacred relic. 'That's the spirit! That's fine!'
ozartcried. 'Let's see them!' There was, however, no score... so he had the parts given to him, and ... sat himself down with the parts all around him." Rochlitz also reports that Mozart requested a copy, and "valued it very highly..."
[Rochlitz, Johann Friedrich, in the Allgemeine Muiskalische Zeitung, 1799, p. 117, translation from Robert C. Marshall, "Bach and Mozart's Artistic Maturity," pp. 69-17, in ''Bach Perspectives 3: Creative Response to the Music of J. S. Bach from Mozart to Hindemith'', edited Michael Marissen, University of Nebraska Press, 1998, ]
Publication
The motet was included in the first edition of Bach motets, printed by
Breitkopf & Härtel in two volumes in 1802/1803. The editor of both volumes is believed to have been
Johann Gottfried Schicht
Johann Gottfried Schicht (29 September 1753 – 16 February 1823) was a German composer and conductor.
Schicht was born in Reichenau, in the Electorate of Saxony. He trained as a lawyer, studying from 1776 at Leipzig. He was the conductor ...
, ''Thomaskantor'' from 1810.
References
External links
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225 performance by the
Netherlands Bach Society
The Netherlands Bach Society ( nl, Nederlandse Bachvereniging) is the oldest ensemble for Baroque music in the Netherlands, and possibly in the world. The ensemble was founded in 1921 in Naarden to perform Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach's ''St Matthew ...
(video and background information)
Information on the work on www.bach-cantatas.com*
at Emmanuel Music
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied'', BWV 225
Motets by Johann Sebastian Bach
1727 compositions
Psalm-related compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach