Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen
Encyclopedia
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Praise God in All Lands), BWV
51, is a cantata
by Johann Sebastian Bach
. It is thought to date from around 1730, and is one of Bach's best known cantatas.
The piece is written for solo soprano
, trumpet
, violin
s, viola
s and continuo. It is one of only four sacred cantatas that Bach wrote for a soprano (if one excludes the arrangement made by Bach of the cantata for solo bass and oboe BWV 82, for flute and soprano BWV 82a) and no other vocal soloists (the others being Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht, BWV 52
, Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke, BWV 84, and Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199). There are, however, several secular cantatas for solo soprano (BWV 202, BWV 204, BWV 209 and O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210
). Bach's manuscript indicates that it was written for the 15th Sunday after Trinity
"et in ogni tempo" ("and at any time"). The latter phrase indicates the possibly special nature of the work, as the text has no real direct relevance to the scriptural lessons for that Sunday.
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Galatians
, , Paul's admonition to "walk in the Spirit", and from the Gospel of Luke
, , from the Sermon on the Mount
the demand not to worry about material needs, but to seek God's kingdom first.
The cantata is in four movements (or five, if the concluding Alleluja is considered a separate movement):
The author of the text in the first and third movement is unknown; it may have been Bach himself.
Both the soprano part, which covers two octaves and calls for a high C in the first and last movements, and the solo trumpet part, which at times trades melodic lines with the soprano on an equal basis, are extremely virtuosic.
BWV
The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis is the numbering system identifying compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The prefix BWV, followed by the work's number, is the shorthand identification for Bach's compositions...
51, is a cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. It is thought to date from around 1730, and is one of Bach's best known cantatas.
The piece is written for solo soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s and continuo. It is one of only four sacred cantatas that Bach wrote for a soprano (if one excludes the arrangement made by Bach of the cantata for solo bass and oboe BWV 82, for flute and soprano BWV 82a) and no other vocal soloists (the others being Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht, BWV 52
Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht, BWV 52
Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht , BWV 52, is a church cantata written by Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig for the 23nd Sunday after Trinity, first performed on 24 November 1726.-History and words:...
, Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke, BWV 84, and Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199). There are, however, several secular cantatas for solo soprano (BWV 202, BWV 204, BWV 209 and O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210
O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210
O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit , BWV 210, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote the solo cantata for soprano in Leipzig for a wedding, first performed between 1738 and 1746...
). Bach's manuscript indicates that it was written for the 15th Sunday after Trinity
Trinity Sunday
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...
"et in ogni tempo" ("and at any time"). The latter phrase indicates the possibly special nature of the work, as the text has no real direct relevance to the scriptural lessons for that Sunday.
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Galatians
Epistle to the Galatians
The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, often shortened to Galatians, is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul of Tarsus to a number of Early Christian communities in the Roman province of Galatia in central Anatolia...
, , Paul's admonition to "walk in the Spirit", and from the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
, , from the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...
the demand not to worry about material needs, but to seek God's kingdom first.
The cantata is in four movements (or five, if the concluding Alleluja is considered a separate movement):
- Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen ("Praise God in all lands") - a da capo ariaDa capo ariaThe da capo aria is a musical form, which was prevalent in the Baroque era. It is sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of instruments, often a small orchestra. The da capo aria is very common in the musical genres of opera and oratorio...
for the whole ensemble, with the soprano treated similarly to the solo instrument in a concertanteConcertoA concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
work. - Wir beten zu dem Tempel an ("We offer our prayers to the temple") - this is marked in the score as a recitativeRecitativeRecitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
, but the highly melismaMelismaMelisma, in music, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.-History:Music of ancient cultures used...
tic nature of the vocal part is such that it might easily be called an arioso (something between a recitative and full-blown ariaAriaAn aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
), with accompaniment from the strings. The text of this part is taken from Psalms 26 and 138. - Höchster, mache deine Güte ("Highest, renew your goodness") - an aria accompanied by the continuo only.
- Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren ("Laud, praise and honour") - A fantasy on the fifth stanza of Johann GramannJohann GramannJohann Gramann or Graumann was a Protestant-Lutheran pastor, theologian, teacher, humanist, reformer and leader of the church. He worked as rector of the Thomasschule in Leipzig...
's choraleChoraleA chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
, "Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren" (Bach used the same verse in a different setting to close his cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29), played by the strings and continuo, with the soprano singing the chorale as a cantus firmusCantus firmusIn music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
. This leads without a break into a concluding "Alleluja" fugato in which the trumpet returns, bringing the cantata to a close on a particularly festive note.
The author of the text in the first and third movement is unknown; it may have been Bach himself.
Both the soprano part, which covers two octaves and calls for a high C in the first and last movements, and the solo trumpet part, which at times trades melodic lines with the soprano on an equal basis, are extremely virtuosic.
Recordings
- Johann Sebastian Bach Solo-Kantaten, Agnes GiebelAgnes GiebelAgnes Giebel is a German soprano. She was born in Heerlen, in the Netherlands, where she lived the first years of her life. She studied at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen and made her first public appearance as a singer in 1947. Her career lasted until the 1990s during which she established a...
, Maurice AndréMaurice AndréMaurice André is a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field.-Biography:He is a classical virtuoso trumpeter, born in Alès, France in the Cévennes into a mining family. His father was an amateur musician....
, Gustav LeonhardtGustav LeonhardtGustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...
, Concerto Amsterdam, Jaap SchröderJaap SchröderJaap Schröder or Jaap Schroeder is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and pedagogue.He studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and at the Sorbonne in France. He has served as the director and concertmaster of the Academy of Ancient Music, and in 1982 he was appointed the visiting music director of the...
director. Label: Das Alte Werk (TelefunkenTelefunkenTelefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
) (LP) SAWT 9513-B 1963 - Bach: Kantate BWV 51 - Kantate BWV 202, Adele StolteAdele StolteAdele Stolte is a German soprano singer in concert and Lieder, and an academic voice teacher.- Biography :...
, Armin Mönnel (trumpet), Gewandhausorchester LeipzigLeipzig Gewandhaus OrchestraThe Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the the oldest symphony orchestras in the world...
, Kurt MasurKurt MasurKurt Masur is a German conductor, particularly noted for his interpretation of German Romantic music.- Biography :Masur was born in Brieg, Lower Silesia, Germany and studied piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig, Saxony. Masur has been married three times...
director. Label: Eterna 1971 - J.S. Bach: Magnificat-Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, Emma Kirby, English Baroque SoloistsEnglish Baroque SoloistsThe English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque period to the Classical period...
, John Eliot GardinerJohn Eliot GardinerSir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...
director. Label: Philips 1983 - J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 19, Marlis PetersenMarlis PetersenMarlis Petersen is a German coloratura soprano, particularly known for her performances in the title role of Alban Berg's opera Lulu, and as Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos....
, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & ChoirAmsterdam Baroque Orchestra & ChoirThe Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam.The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in...
, Ton KoopmanTon KoopmanTon Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
conductor. Label: Antoine Marchand 2001