Page Category: Bach Cantatas

Cantata BWV 72Alles nur nach Gottes Willen

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Translation

Analysis

The sequence of nine "Lord, if you will it..." statements is an example of anaphora -a rhetorical device where words are repeated at the beginning of clauses for emphasis (if the repetition was at the end of the sentence or clause, it would be called epiphora instead!). Another example of anaphora is Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, where he repeats "I have a dream" eight times. In this case, the repeated statement comes directly from the gospel of the day, where the man suffering from leprosy says, "Lord, if you will it, you can make me clean". [...] 

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Cantata BWV 71Gott ist mein König

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Translation

Analysis

This was the first -and only- cantata to be printed in Bach's own lifetime which has survived. It is an early work, dating from his days in Mülhausen, in the early 1700s, long before his time in Leipzig. It was written to mark the inauguration of the new Mülhausen Town Council, which took place on February 4th each year. The deal with the council was: write us a new cantata, and we'll pay to have it published. [...] 

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Cantata BWV 69aLobe den Herrn, meine Seele

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Translation

Analysis

There are two cantatas that open with the same line ("Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele"). The first one was written in 1723 and is a 'classic' sacred cantata and is now known as BWV 69a. The second, later, adaptation is BWV 69, no alphabetical suffix. (This numbering/lettering is slightly annoying, in that a suffix tends to make one think a thing comes after its non-suffixed cousin; unfortunately, in the Bach cantatas, it's the other way around: a suffix in this case indicates it precedes the un-suffixed equivalent!) [...] 

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Cantata BWV 69Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele

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Complete Performance

Translation

Analysis

There are two cantatas that open with the same line ("Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele"). The first one was written in 1723 and is a 'classic' sacred cantata and is now known as BWV 69a. This one (just plain old BWV 69, no alphabetical suffixes) was adapted from that earlier one very late in Bach's career -in 1748- and performed to inaugurate the new Town Council that year (and hence all the references to the best thing God can do for us is to give us wise governors). I'm calling this a 'civic cantata' in consequence, even though it is sacred in nature and content, to make the distinction between the two of them clear. [...] 

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