''Meine Seele rühmt und preist'' (My soul extols and praises), , is a church

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 ...

credited to

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 ...

and Melchior Hoffmann.

History and text

This is a solo cantata composed for the Feast of the Visitation of Mary. The prescribed readings for the day were , and . The

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 ...

of the work is unknown. The German text of the cantata is a paraphrase of the

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

. An old largely lost source attributes the cantata to Melchior Hoffmann (although seemingly confusing the composer with Johann Georg Hoffmann, an organist in Breslau). Throughout the 19th century the cantata was generally attributed to Bach. Only in the second half of the 20th century was the attribution restored to Melchior Hoffmann again in most sources.Meine Seele rühmt und preist BWV 189 / Anh. II 23
at

Movements and scoring

The work in five movements is scored for solo

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 ...

voice, two recorders,

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, ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

. #Aria "Meine Seele rühmt und preist" #Recitative "Denn seh' ich mich und auch mein Leben an" #Aria "Gott hat sich hoch gesetzet" #Recitative "O wass vor grosse Dinge treff ich an allen Orten an" #Aria "Deine Güte, dein Erbarmen"

Recordings

Curt Sachs Curt Sachs (; 29 June 1881 – 5 February 1959) was a German musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments). Among his contributions was the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which he created with Eric ...

ensemble, Max Meili. L'anthologie Sonore, 1935. *Paris Conservatory Orchestra, Charles Munch. ''Charles Munch, Vol. 2''. Disque Gramophone, 1941. *Bach-Orchester Stuttgart,

Hans Grischkat Hans Adolf Karl Wilhelm Grischkat (29 August 1903 – 10 January 1977) was a German conductor, especially a choral conductor, also a church musician and academic teacher. He founded the choir for pioneering concerts and recordings of works by ...

. ''J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 51 & BWV 189''. Renaissance, 1951. *Orchestre de Chambre "Pro Arte" de Munich, Kurt Redel. ''J.S. Bach: Cantatas Nos. 189 · 89 · 174''. Erato, 1956. *Ernst Haefliger soloist, Münchner Bach-Orchester, Karl Richter, ''Kantaten BWV 55 & BWV 189'', Archiv-Produktion 1959 *Peter Schreier soloist and conductor, Festival Strings Lucerne, "Bach Kantaten fur Tenor" Ariola-Eurodisc 1976 * Kammerorchester Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

. ''J.S. Bach: Solo-Kantaten und Arien''. Philips, 1994. *Members of

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that hav ...

Nicolai Gedda Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, better known as Nicolai Gedda (11 July 1925 – 8 January 2017), was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1951, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made his final ...

(1971). ''Les introuvables de Nicolai Gedda''. EMI Classics, 1995 * Helmut Müller-Brühl, conducting Markus Schäfer and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra (2004).J. S. Bach – Telemann – Hoffmann: Sacred Cantatas for Alto and for Tenor
at

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

website.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meine Seele ruhmt und preist, BWV 189 Church cantatas Bach: spurious and doubtful works Magnificat settings German church music