(The light shall ver rise againfor the righteous), BWV 195, is a

church cantata A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during Christian liturgy. The genre was particularly popular in 18th-century Lutheran Germany, with many composers writing an extensive output: Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, ...

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 ...

for a wedding. He composed it in Leipzig, possibly in 1727, but only the incomplete scores of later performances from the 1740s survived. It uses two verses from

Psalm 97 Psalm 97 is the 97th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice", also as "The Lord is King". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and ...

for the opening movement, and the first stanza auf Paul Gerhardt's hymn "" for the closing chorale. The librettist of the other movements is unknown.

History and text

Bach composed this cantata 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 1727 for a wedding. The earliest version of the work is lost; an incomplete second version from 1742 and a complete revision from the late 1740s survive. These dates correspond with repeat performances of the work. The closing chorale is the first stanza of

Paul Gerhardt Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...

's hymn "

Nun danket all und bringet Ehr "" (Now thank all and bring honour) is a German Lutheran hymn in nine stanzas, with a text written by Paul Gerhardt. It was first published in 1647, in Johann Crüger's ''Praxis pietatis melica'' which was the first publication of hymns by Gerh ...

", with the melody of " Lobt Gott, ihr Christen alle gleich". The opening movement is based on ; the rest of the text is anonymous. Alfred Dürr derives from allusions in the text that the work was intended for the wedding of a lawyer.

Scoring and structure

The cantata is scored for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

vocal soloists, a four-part choir, three

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

, two

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

, two

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s, two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s, two

oboes d'amore The oboe d'amore (; Italian for "oboe of love"), less commonly , is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the me ...

, two

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

violone The term violone (; literally "large viol" in Italian, " -one" being the augmentative suffix) can refer to several distinct large, bowed musical instruments which belong to either the viol or violin family. The violone is sometimes a fretted i ...

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

. The work is divided into two parts, to be performed before and after the sermon. The original version had three movements in the second part, out of eight total. In the surviving version, the second part includes only the final of six movements. # Chorus: Dem Gerechten muss das Licht immer wieder aufgehen # Recitative (bass): Dem Freudenlicht gerechter Frommen # Aria (bass): Rühmet Gottes Güt und Treu # Recitative (soprano): Wohlan, so knüpfet denn ein Band # Chorus: Wir kommen, deine Heiligkeit # Chorale: Nun danket all und bringet Ehr

Music

The cantata opens with a choral movement which combines two

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

s, each on a psalm verse, with concertante parts. The vocal scoring indicates a ripieno group at times. The movement has an "energetic and ebullient" instrumental introduction. The first section highlights the contrast between ripieno and full chorus, while the second section is dance-like. The bass recitative is secco and "severe". It is accompanied by a triplet line that moves in semiquavers to end the movement. The bass aria is in modified ternary form and includes an instrumental ritornello with a characteristic Scotch snap. The middle section moves into a minor key to increase the intimacy of the personal expression. The movement concludes with a short coda. The soprano recitative "is a musical portrayal of the central part of the marriage ceremony" – the blessing of the union. It is accompanied by chordal oboes and scalar flutes. The penultimate movement is a chorus, similar to that with which the cantata opened. It combines da capo and ritornello form. The first section is dominated by scalar motifs, while the middle section is chordal and "quasi-philosophical". The cantata ends with a four-part harmonization of the chorale tune, "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen alle gleich".

Recordings

* Gächinger Kantorei, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Helmuth Rilling. ''Die Bach Kantate Vol. 8''. Hänssler, 1984. *

Holland Boys Choir Pieter Jan Leusink (born 5 April 1958 in Elburg) is a Dutch conductor of classical music. He studied organ in Zwolle at the Municipal Conservatory and took conducting lessons from Gottfried van der Horst. He founded the Stadsknapenkoor Elburg (E ...

Netherlands Bach Collegium The Netherlands Bach Collegium is a Baroque orchestra based in the Netherlands. It is conducted by Pieter Jan Leusink. They are noted for their Complete Cantatas Brilliant Series, a recording of the complete Bach cantata, sacred cantatas by Johann S ...

Pieter Jan Leusink Pieter Jan Leusink (born 5 April 1958 in Elburg) is a Dutch conductor of classical music. He studied organ in Zwolle at the Municipal Conservatory and took conducting lessons from Gottfried van der Horst. He founded the Stadsknapenkoor Elburg ( ...

. ''Bach Edition Vol. 18''. Brilliant Classics, 2000. * Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir,

Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman (; born 2 October 1944), known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orches ...

. ''J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 21''. Antoine Marchand, 2002. * Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki. ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 51''. BIS, 2011.

Notes

References

External links

*
Dem Gerechten muss das Licht [1st version] BWV 195; BC B 14a / Sacred cantata (Wedding)
Bach Digital
Dem Gerechten muss das Licht [2nd version] BWV 195; BC B 14b / Sacred cantata (Wedding) Sacred cantata (Wedding)
Bach Digital
Dem Gerechten muss das Licht [latest version] BWV 195; BC B 14c / Sacred cantata (Wedding)
Bach Digital
BWV 195 – "Dem Gerechten muß das Licht"
English translation,

Emmanuel Music Emmanuel Music is a Boston-based collective group of singers and instrumentalists founded in 1970 by Craig Smith. It was created specifically to perform the complete cycle of over 200 sacred cantatas of J. S. Bach in the liturgical setting for whic ...

BWV 195 Dem Gerechten muß das Licht
English translation,

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerechten Muss Das Licht, Dem Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach 1727 compositions Psalm-related compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach Christian wedding music