(Lord God, ruler of all things),

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...

120.2 (previously ), is a wedding

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

. He composed and first performed it in Leipzig, most likely in 1729.

History and text

Bach composed the cantata for a wedding in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

probably in 1729, "in great haste", according to Klaus Hofmann, looking at Bach's handwriting and mistakes made by the copiers. The music is generally agreed to be of high quality. Bach adapted the opening chorus for the '' Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum'' section of the Mass in B minor, a composition which is widely hailed as one of the greatest in musical history. The music survives in an incomplete state. There is a fragmentary autograph score and some parts written by various scribes: only the vocal parts, a viola part and three continuo parts are extant. As the cantata shares music with other compositions, particularly BWV 120.1, but also BWV 1006 and BWV 137 (two earlier works), it can be reconstructed. On this basis, the instruments can be assumed to be those specified in the other works including oboes d'amore,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

s and timpani. The names of bride and groom are not known. He has been assumed to be a

minister of religion In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance ...

, deducted from the text "" (Lord, begin and pronounce your blessing / on this, your servant's house). The text was written by an anonymous poet. It is in two parts, the second one marked (after the wedding ceremony). The closing chorale is by Joachim Neander, stanzas 4 and 5 of his

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'' d ...

"".

Scoring and structure

The piece is scored for four solo voices (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

, and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) and a four-part choir. The instruments used are three

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

, 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 type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s, two oboes d'amore, two

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, and

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 ...

. One movement, the sinfonia which opens part II of the cantata, features an organ

obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking '' ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to ind ...

. Generally, the orchestration is typical of that Bach used for festive occasions, although sometimes he deployed more oboes. The work has eight movements in two parts: Part 1 #Chorus: #Recitative (tenor, bass, and choir): #Aria (soprano): Part 2 #

Sinfonia

#Recitative (tenor and choir): #Aria (alto, tenor): #Recitative (bass): #Chorale:

Music

Of the eight movements, only the three recitatives (movements 2, 5 and 7) are unique to this cantata. Bach parodied movements 1, 3 and 6 in 1730 in two works: * a lost cantata , celebrating the anniversary of the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession (), also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of th ...

in 1730. * a cantata for ''Ratswechsel'' (Inauguration of a new town council), , which Hofmann dates 1742, and according to

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 ...

originated in 1729 or earlier. The respective movement numbers are 2, 4 and 1. The second movement is in three sections: a secco bass recitative, a choral intervention, and a secco tenor recitative. The first part closes with a "florid" soprano aria in modified

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...

. Part II opens with a

sinfonia Sinfonia (; plural ''sinfonie'') is the Italian word for symphony, from the Latin ''symphonia'', in turn derived from Ancient Greek συμφωνία ''symphōnia'' (agreement or concord of sound), from the prefix σύν (together) and Φωνή (s ...

which is adapted from the prelude of the partita for violin solo in

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

, BWV 1006. The music, which consists almost entirely of semiquavers, is reassigned to the organ with orchestral accompaniment. (This movement can be reconstructed from the opening sinfonia of the cantata for the ''Ratswechsel'' of 1731, ''Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir'', BWV 29. The following tenor recitative ends with a choral statement from a

litany Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''wikt:litania, litania'' from Ancient Greek wikt:λιτα ...

"" (Hear us, dear Lord God). The sixth movement is a duet aria in

da capo Da capo ( , , ; often abbreviated as D.C.) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an easie ...

form. The bass recitative, "" (The Lord, the Lord our God, be so with you), prepares the closing chorale, a setting which appeared as the closing chorale of the

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the Germany, German Baroque music, Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chor ...

''Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren'', BWV 137, composed in 1725.

Publication

The work was reconstructed by Alfred Dörffel and published in 1894 as part of the Bach Gesellschaft's complete Bach edition. The continuo part is presented as a

figured bass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidental (music), accidentals) indicate interval (music), intervals, chord (music), chords, and non- ...

.Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge
Leipzig:

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

Recordings

* Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Ton Koopman. ''J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 20''. Antoine Marchand, 2003. * Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki. ''J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 51''. BIS, 2011. * Gächinger Kantorei & Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling. „J.S.Bach: The complete works“. 1999/2000 Hänssler Verlag, Germany.

References

External links

*
Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge (uncompleted) BWV 120a; BC B 15 / Sacred cantata (Wedding)

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge'', BWV 120a 1729 compositions Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Christian wedding music