Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, BWV 111

Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit
BWV 111
Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach
Albert, Duke of Prussia, author of the hymn
Occasion	Third Sunday after Epiphany
Chorale	"Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit" by Albert, Duke of Prussia
Performed	21 January 1725 (1725-01-21): Leipzig
Movements	6
Vocal	SATB choir and solo
Instrumental	2 oboes 2 violins viola continuo

Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit (What my God wants, may it always happen),^[1] BWV 111, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for use in a Lutheran service. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1725 for the third Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it on 21 January 1725, as part of his chorale cantata cycle. It is based on the hymn by Albert, Duke of Prussia, published in 1554, on the topic of the Christian's acceptance of God's will.

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History and words

When Bach composed the cantata, he was in his second year as Thomaskantor (director of church music) in Leipzig. During his first year, beginning with the first Sunday after Trinity 1723, he had written a cycle of cantatas for the occasions of the liturgical year. In his second year he composed a second annual cycle of cantatas, which was planned to consist exclusively of chorale cantatas, each based on one Lutheran hymn. It included Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit.^[2]

Bach wrote the cantata for the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were taken from the Epistle to the Romans, rules for life (Romans 12:17–21), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the healing of a leper (Matthew 8:1–13).^[2] The cantata text is based on a chorale in four stanzas, which is still popular. Three stanzas were written by Albert, Duke of Prussia, who introduced the Reformation into Prussia.^[3] An anonymous hymnwriter added the final stanza already in the first publication in 1554.^[1] In the typical format of Bach's chorale cantatas, the first and last stanza are retained unchanged, while an unknown librettist paraphrased the inner stanzas to texts for recitatives and arias. In this case, he transcribed rather freely each stanza of the hymn to a sequence of aria and recitative. Similar to Bach's cantata for the same occasion in the first cycle, Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir, BWV 73, the text deals with the Christian's acceptance of God's will.^[2]

Scoring and structure

The cantata in six movements is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.^[2]^[4]

Chorus: Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit
Aria (bass): Entsetze dich, mein Herze, nicht
Recitative (alto): O Törichter! der sich von Gott entzieht
Aria (alto, tenor): So geh ich mit beherzten Schritten
Recitative (soprano): Drum wenn der Tod zuletzt den Geist
Chorale: Noch eins, Herr, will ich bitten dich

Music

In the opening chorus, the soprano sings the melody of the chorale^[5] as a cantus firmus in long notes. The melody appears in an interesting combination of phrases of different length, two measures alternating with three measures. Bach used a simpler version of the melody, with all phrases of measures, when he used the first stanza in his St Matthew Passion as movement 25.^[6] In the cantata, the lower voices prepare each entrance by imitation, sometimes repeating the line to the soprano's long final note. The vocal parts are embedded in an independent orchestral concerto of the oboes, the strings and at times even the continuo.^[2]^[3]

In movement 2, a bass aria, the librettist kept the line from the hymn "Gott ist dein Trost und Zuversicht" unchanged, Bach treats it to quotation of the chorale tune for both the quotation and the free continuation "und deiner Seelen Leben" (and the life of your soul^[7]).^[3] Movement 4 is a duet of alto and tenor, "So geh ich mit beherzten Schritten" (Thus I walk with encouraged steps).^[7] The steps are taken together in 3/4 time, in "a minuet of a strongly assertive and confident character. But this should not surprise us; we have seen how Bach often takes suite rhythms, particularly minuet and gavotte, to represent the civilized movements of souls progressing towards heaven", as Julian Mincham describes it.^[6] Movement 5, a soprano recitative stresses the final words "O blessed, desired end!"^[7] in an arioso. It leads to the closing chorale, a "simple but powerful four-part setting" of the last stanza.^[3]

Recordings

The recordings are taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas Website.^[8]

Bach Made in Germany Vol. 1 – Cantatas II, Günther Ramin, Thomanerchor, Gewandhausorchester, Agnes Giebel, Annegret Häussler, Gert Lutze, Johannes Oettel, Eterna 1953
Bach Made in Germany Vol. 2 – Cantatas IV, Kurt Thomas, Thomanerchor, Gewandhausorchester, Elisabeth Grümmer, Marga Höffgen, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, Theo Adam, Eterna 1960
Bach Cantatas Vol. 1 – Advent and Christmas, Karl Richter, Münchener Bach-Chor, Münchener Bach-Orchester, Edith Mathis, Anna Reynolds, Peter Schreier, Theo Adam, Archiv Produktion 1972
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 23, Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Arleen Augér, Helen Watts, Lutz-Michael Harder, Philippe Huttenlocher, Hänssler 1980
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 6, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Tölzer Knabenchor, Concentus Musicus Wien, soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Ruud van der Meer, Teldec 1981
Bach Edition Vol. 5 – Cantatas Vol. 2, Pieter Jan Leusink, Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Ruth Holton, Sytse Buwalda, Nico van der Meel, Bas Ramselaar, Brilliant Classics 1999
J. S. Bach: Cantatas for the 3rd Sunday of Epiphany, John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Joanne Lunn, Sara Mingardo, Julian Podger, Stephen Varcoe, Archiv Produktion 2000
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 12, Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Lisa Larsson, Annette Markert, Christoph Prégardien, Klaus Mertens, Antoine Marchand 2000
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 32 – BWV 111, 123, 124, 125, Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Yukari Nonoshita, Robin Blaze, Andreas Weller, Peter Kooy, BIS 2005

References

^ ^a ^b "Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas Website. 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 189–191. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hofmann, Klaus (2006). "Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit / What my God wants, may it always happen, BWV 111" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 5. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
^ Bischof, Walter F. "BWV 111 Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit]". University of Alberta. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit". Bach Cantatas Website. 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
^ ^a ^b Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 36 BWV 111 Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 111 – Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ Oron, Aryeh. "Cantata BWV 111 Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 January 2017.

Sources

Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, BWV 111: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Was mein Gott will, das gscheh allzeit BWV 111; BC A 36 / Chorale cantata (3rd Sunday of Epiphany) Bach Digital
Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, BWV 111 Downloadable score (pdf) with modern clefs by atticbooks, 2016
BWV 111 Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit: English translation, University of Vermont
Luke Dahn: BWV 111.6 bach-chorales.com

v t e Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach
Before Leipzig	Early: BWV 4 131 71 1138.1 & .2 106 196 150 143 Weimar: BWV 61 70a 186a 132 147a 63 152 155 18 54 80a 182 31 12 172 165 21 185 199 161 162 163 Köthen: BWV Anh. 5
First cycle (1723–24)	Between Trinity and Advent: BWV 75 76 24 167 147 186 136 105 46 179 69a 77 25 138 95 148 48 109 89 60 90 70 From Advent to Trinity: BWV 40 64 190 153 65 154 73 81 83 144 181 22 23 66 134 67 104 166 86 37 44 59 184
Second cycle (and chorale cantatas)	Chorale cantatas between Trinity and Easter: BWV 20 2 7 135 10 93 107 178 94 101 113 33 78 99 8 130 114 96 5 180 38 115 139 26 116 62 91 121 133 122 41 123 124 3 111 92 125 126 127 1 Continuation of the second cycle: BWV 6 42 85 103 108 87 128 183 74 68 175 176 Later additions to the chorale cantata cycle: BWV 80 137 129 58 112 140 177 9 14 Other late chorale cantatas: BWV 117 192 100 97
Third cycle	After Trinity 1725: BWV 168 164 79 Liturgical year 1725–26: BWV 110 57 151 28 16 32 13 72 146 43 39 88 170 187 45 102 35 17 19 27 47 169 56 49 98 55 52 1727: BWV 82 84 34 173
Later and other	Picander cycle: BWV 149 188 197a 171 156 159 145 174 Late parodies: BWV 36 30 191 200 248 I 248 II 248 III 248 IV 248 V 248 VI 1083 Council election (Leipzig): BWV 119 193 29 120 69 (lost: 1139.1, 1140–1141) Wedding: BWV 34a 195 120a 197 Funeral: 157 244a Other: 194 190a 120b 51 158 50 Doubtful: 53 142 189 217 220 221 223 224
Bach cantata List of Bach cantatas Discography: Monteverdi Choir/Koopman/Teldec

This page was last edited on 29 August 2022, at 11:59

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