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Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91

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Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
BWV 91
by J. S. Bach
Martin Luther, author of the hymn, in 1533 by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Chorale"Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ"
by Martin Luther
Performed25 December 1724 (1724-12-25): Leipzig
Movements6
VocalSATB choir and solo
Instrumental
  • 2 horns
  • timpani
  • 3 oboes
  • 2 violins
  • viola
  • continuo

Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (Praise be to You, Jesus Christ),[1] BWV 91, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote the Christmas cantata in Leipzig in 1724 for Christmas Day and first performed it on 25 December. It is based on the hymn "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (1524) by Martin Luther.

The cantata belongs to Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the second cantata cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. The cantata text retains the first and last stanza of the chorale unchanged for a chorale fantasiaand a four-part chorale setting, while an unknown librettist paraphrased the inner stanzas into alternating recitatives and arias.

The cantata is scored for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns, timpani, three oboes, strings and basso continuo.

History and words

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The chorale cantata from Bach's chorale cantata cycle is based on the main chorale for Christmas Day, Luther's "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ", published in 1524. Its beginning summarizes Christmas in two lines: "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, daß du Mensch geboren bist" (Praise be to You, Jesus Christ, since You were born a man).[1] All seven stanzas end with the acclamation Kyrieleis. The cantata was Bach's first composed for Christmas Day in Leipzig; in his first year in Leipzig 1723 he had chosen to perform Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 again, written for the occasion earlier in Weimar.[2]

The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Epistle to Titus, "God's mercy appeared" (Titus 2:11–14) alternating with Isaiah, "Unto us a child is born" (Isaiah 9:2–7), and from the Gospel of Luke, the Nativity, Annunciation to the shepherds and the angels' song (Luke 2:1–14). The unknown librettist retained the first and the last stanza unchanged, expanded the complete text of the second stanza inserting line by line new text for recitatives line by line, transformed stanzas 3 and 4 to an arie, stanza 5 to a recitative, and stanza 6 again to an aria.[3]

Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance of the cantata on 25 December 1724.[4] He performed the cantata again four more times on 25 December, in 1731, in 1732 or 1733, and twice in the 1740s,[4] even after his Christmas Oratorio had been first performed in 1734 for which he also used two stanzas of the same chorale.

Music

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Structure and scoring

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Bach structured the cantata in six movements. Both text and tune of the hymn are retained in the outer movements, a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale.[3] Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns (Co), timpani (Ti), three oboes (Ob), two violin parts (Vl), a viola part (Va) and basso continuo.[4]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr's standard work Die Kantaten von J. S. Bach.[3] The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91
No. Title Text Type Vocal Winds Strings Key Time
1 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91 Luther Chorale fantasia SATB 2Co Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va G major common time
2 Der Glanz der höchsten Herrlichkeit anon., Luther Recitative and chorale S common time
3 Gott, dem der Erden Kreis zu klein anon. Aria T 3Ob C major 3
4
4 O Christenheit! Wohlan anon. Recitative B 2Vl Va common time
5 Die Armut, so Gott auf sich nimmt anon. Aria Duetto SA 2Vl E minor common time
6 Das hat er alles uns getan Luther Chorale SATB 2Co Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va G major common time

Music

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The opening chorus makes use of four choirs: the voices, the horns, the oboes and the strings. The material from the ritornellos is present also in interludes between the five lines and as accompaniment for the vocal parts. The choral melody is sung by the soprano. The lower voices are set in imitation for the first and the last line, in chords for the second and fourth line, and in a combination in the central line "Von einer Jungfrau, das ist wahr" (From a virgin, this is true).[1]

In movement 2, the recitative is contrasted with chorale phrases, which are accompanied by a repetition of the first line of the chorale in double tempo. The tenor aria is accompanied by three oboes, whereas the strings illuminate the following recitative. The last aria is a duet, contrasting "Armut" (poverty) and "Überfluss" (abundance), "Menschlich Wesen" (human being), rendered in chromatic upward lines, and "Engelsherrlichkeiten" (angelic splendours),[1] shown in coloraturas and triadic melodies.

At times the horns have independent parts in the closing chorale[5] and embellish especially the final Kyrieleis.[3][6]

Recordings

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Dellal 2024.
  2. ^ Mincham 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Dürr 1981.
  4. ^ a b c Bach Digital 2024.
  5. ^ Dahn 2024.
  6. ^ a b Gardiner 2005.

Cited sources

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German Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  • "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ BWV 91; BC A 9b". Bach Digital. 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  • Dahn, Luke (2024). "BWV 91.6". bach-chorales.com. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  • Dellal, Pamela (2024). "BWV 91 – "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ"". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  • Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 109–111. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
  • Gardiner, John Eliot (2005). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 40, 91, 110 & 121 (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  • Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 28 BWV 91 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ / We praise you, Jesus Christ". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
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