(God, as Your name is, so is also Your praise),
, is a
church cantata 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 wo ...
. He composed it 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 ...
for
New Year's Day and probably first performed it on 1 January 1729.
Bach composed the cantata years after the complete cantata cycles from the beginning of his tenure as ''
Thomaskantor
(Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...
'' in Leipzig in 1723. The text by
Picander
Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig.
Henrici was born in Stolpen. He stud ...
appeared in a 1728 collection of texts for all occasions of the liturgical year. The feast day also celebrated the
circumcision and naming of Jesus. Picander focused on the naming, beginning with a psalm verse mentioning God's name. He used for the conclusion the second
stanza from
Johannes Hermann Johannes Hermann, also Johann Herrmann, (1515 – 22 April 1593 in Freiberg) was a German church musician, hymn writer and jurist. He held the position of in Leipzig from 1531 to 1536. He became the first Protestant Kantor of Freiberg, and a juris ...
's
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 ''hy ...
"".
Bach structured the cantata in six
movements, an opening choral
fugue, alternating
arias
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompani ...
and
recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...
s and closing chorale. He scored the work for four vocal soloists, a
four-part choir and a festive
Baroque instrumental ensemble of three
trumpets
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 B ...
and
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 traditionally ...
, 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.
...
s, strings and continuo. The oboes and strings play with the voices in
motet style in the choral sections, while the trumpets add the style of a new time. The cantata is part of Bach's
Picander cycle.
Background and words
Bach had taken up his tenure as ''
Thomaskantor
(Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...
'' 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 ...
in 1723. During his first year there he composed a
first cantata cycle for almost all occasions of the
liturgical year. The second year he composed a cycle of mostly
chorale cantatas
Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale:
* Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the ...
, based on
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
hymns. The third year, Bach began a third cycle but wrote the works more irregularly. was from a later incomplete cycle, which the Bach scholar
Christoph Wolff
Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...
calls the Picander cycle, after the
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
Picander
Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig.
Henrici was born in Stolpen. He stud ...
with whom Bach had collaborated already for the ''
St Matthew Passion'', and worked together for several years. The preface of Picander's 1728 collection of cantata texts written for Bach said that "lack of poetic elegance would be compensated for by the sweetness of the incomparable Kapellmeister Bach".
The cantata was composed for
New Year's Day.
The prescribed readings for the feast day, which also celebrated the naming of Jesus eight days after his birth, were from the
Epistle to the Galatians, "by faith we inherit" (), and from the
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...
, the
Circumcision and naming of Jesus (). The text was written by Picander and published in 1728 in a collection of texts for all occasions of the liturgical year.
Picander included for the first
movement a verse from
Psalm 48 ( in the
King James version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
, otherwise verse 11). He used as the closing chorale the second
stanza from
Johannes Hermann Johannes Hermann, also Johann Herrmann, (1515 – 22 April 1593 in Freiberg) was a German church musician, hymn writer and jurist. He held the position of in Leipzig from 1531 to 1536. He became the first Protestant Kantor of Freiberg, and a juris ...
's
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 ''hy ...
"".
Picander's poetry is focused on the name of Jesus, similarly to Bach's later cantata for the same occasion,
Part IV of his ''Christmas Oratorio''. The biblical quotation from the
Old Testament already mentions the name of God. The first recitative adds the thought that the name of Jesus is a gift for the New Year. The second aria contemplates that the name of Jesus, being the first word in the new year, should also be the last in the hour of death. The last recitative refers to , of Jesus saying: "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." The final movement combines prayers and hopes for the new year.
Bach led the
Thomanerchor
The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding sch ...
in the first performance. The earliest possible date is 1 January 1729, but it could have been also a year later or two.
Music
Structure and scoring
Bach structured the cantata in six movements. An opening chorus and a closing chorale frame a sequence of alternating
arias
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompani ...
and
recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...
s. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (
soprano (S),
alto (A),
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
(T),
bass (B)), a
four-part choir and a festive
Baroque instrumental ensemble of three
trumpets
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 B ...
(Tr) and
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 traditionally ...
(Ti), 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.
...
s (Ob), 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 regu ...
s (Vl),
viola
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
, image=Bratsche.jpg
, caption=
, background=string
, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
, range=
, related=
*Violin family ...
(Va), and
basso continuo.
The heading of the autograph score reads: "J.J. Festo Circumcisionis Xsi. Concerto . à 4 Voci. 3 Trombe, Tamburi, 2 Hautb. 2 Violini, Viola e Contin: di Bach", which means "Jesus help. Feast of the circumcision of Christ. Concerto for 4 voices, 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 oboes, 2 violins, viola and continuo".
The duration is given as 22 minutes.
In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the
Neue Bach-Ausgabe
The New Bach Edition (NBE) (german: Neue Bach-Ausgabe; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete W ...
.
The
keys and
time signature
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...
s are taken from the book on all cantatas by the Bach scholar
Alfred Dürr
Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Professional career
Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...
, using the symbols for
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
(4/4) and ''alla breve'' (2/2).
The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
Movements
1
The first movement, "" (God, as Your name is, so also Your praise is to the ends of the world.),
deals with universal praise of God's name is a choral
fugue. While the trumpets are independent, the strings and oboes mostly double the voices in the style of
Bach's motets. The first trumpet even plays the fugue theme.
The Bach scholar
Alfred Dürr
Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Professional career
Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...
argues that the work is probably no new composition but the reworking of an older lost movement, which forms the basis of both this movement and the later second part of the Credo of this music to the
Mass in B minor, (
believe in thealmighty father, maker of Heaven and Earth). The idea of both is the "world-embracing almighty power of God".
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Life and career
Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Ga ...
, who conducted the
Bach Cantata Pilgrimage
The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the ''Vespro della Beata Vergine'' in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic convic ...
in 2000, summarized:
2
The tenor aria, "" (Lord, as far as the clouds stretch),
is accompanied by two instruments not specified in the manuscript score, perhaps violins, according to the range.
3
An alto recitative, "" (O You sweet name of Jesus),
is
secco.
The musicologist Julian Mincham notes the development from the initial
F-sharp minor, illustrating "introverted contemplation", to "confident assertion" in D major.
4
The soprano aria, "" (Jesus shall be my first word uttered in the new year),
is a
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
of an aria from the secular , in which a virtuoso solo violin represents a gentle wind, while in the church cantata solo it serves the praise of the name Jesus.
5
A tripartite bass recitative, "" (And as You, Lord, have said),
begins as an
arioso
In classical music, arioso (also aria parlante ) is a category of solo vocal piece, usually occurring in an opera or oratorio, falling somewhere between recitative and aria in style. Literally, arioso means ''airy''. The term arose in the 16th ...
, only accompanied by the continuo, leading to prayers, accompanied by two oboes, concluding in an arioso with the oboes.
6
The final chorale,"" (Let us complete the year),
is taken from
''Jesu, nun sei gepreiset'', BWV 41, written for the same occasion in 1725. While the earlier cantata used the third stanza, this one has a setting of the second
and is transposed up a step.
It matches the opening chorus with a support of the voices by oboes and strings, while trumpets and timpani play interludes which add weight to the movement.
Recordings
The entries are taken from the listing on the Bach-Cantatas website.
Instrumental groups playing period instruments in
historically informed performances are marked green under the header .
Notes
References
Sources
*
Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm BWV 171; BC A 24 / Sacred cantata (New Year/Circumcision)Bach Digital
Bach Digital (German: ), developed by the Bach Archive in Leipzig, is an online database which gives access to information on compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and members of his family. Early manuscripts of such compositions are a major foc ...
BWV 171 Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm English translation,
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
* Luke Dahn
BWV 171.6bach-chorales.com
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm'', BWV 171
Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach
Psalm-related compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
1729 compositions