Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele (Praise the Lord, my soul), BWV 69a, is a church cantata written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723 in Leipzig for the twelfth Sunday after Trinity, first performed on 15 August 1723. Bach used it in his last years as a base for a cantata for Ratswahl Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 69.
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Bach wrote the cantata in his first year in Leipzig, which he had started after Trinity of 1723, for the twelfth Sunday after Trinity, first performed on 15 August 1723. He performed it again around 1727, revised in the instrumentation of an aria, and used it in his last years for a cantata for Ratswahl (inauguration of the town council), Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 69.[1]
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 3:4–11, the ministration of the Spirit, and from the Gospel of Mark, Mark 7:31–37, the healing of a deaf mute man. The unknown poet referred to the gospel, but saw in the healing more generally God constantly doing good for man. The opening chorus is therefore taken from Psalm 103:2, "Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget the good He has done for you". The poetry refers to "telling" several times, related to the healed man's ability to speak: "Ah, that I had a thousand tongues!" (movement 2), "My soul, arise, tell" (movement 3) and "My mouth is weak, my tongue mute to speak Your praise and honor." (movement 4). Several movements rely on words of a cantata by Johann Oswald Knauer, published in 1720 in Gott-geheiligtes Singen und Spielen des Friedensteinischen Zions in Gotha.[2] The closing chorale picks up the theme in the sixth verse of Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (What God doth, that is rightly done) of Samuel Rodigast (1675).[1]
To express the praise of the words, the cantata is festively scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists and a four-part choir, three trumpets, timpani, three oboes, oboe da caccia, oboe d'amore, recorder, bassoon, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Bach reflected the duality of the words of the psalm in the opening chorus by creating a double fugue. Both themes are handled separately first and then combined. In the first aria, a pastoral movement, the tenor is accompanied by oboe da caccia, recorder and bassoon.[3] In a later version around 1727 Bach changed the instrumentation to alto, oboe and violin, possibly because he did not have players at hand for the colourful first woodwind setting. In the second aria the contrast of Leiden (suffering) and Freuden (joy) is expressed by chromatic, first down, then up, and vivid coloraturas. The closing chorale is the same as the one of Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12 of 1714, but for no apparent reason without the obbligato violin.[1]
Bach wrote in his last years a cantata for Ratswahl (inauguration of the town council), Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 69, based on BWV 69a for the twelfth Sunday after Trinity of 1723. The recitatives and the chorale were changed for the occasion. The chorale is the third verse of Es woll uns Gott genädig sein of Martin Luther (1524). Before, Bach had also composed new cantatas for Ratswahl, such as Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120 in 1730 and Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29 in 1731.
for BWV 69a:
for BWV 69:
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