(Give honour to the Lord, my God) for soprano, alto and bass, vocal ensemble, trumpets I-III, timpani, flute, oboe I+II, bassoon, strings and continuo.

In his cantata “Gelobt sei der Herr, mein Gott” (Give honour to the Lord, my God) BWV 129 Bach presents a celebratory work of great magnificence and yet extraordinary efficiency. Written in the form of a chorale cantata “per omnes versus”, it is based solely on the verses of a church hymn and does not contain any transitional recitatives or aria texts. The composer was thus not able to depend on variety in form or speech rhythms for effect; rather, he had to draw solely upon his own musical inventiveness and skill for variety. BWV 129 belongs to the cantatas that Bach composed retrospectively in order to complete the choralecantata cycle he prematurely discontinued at Easter of 1725. In light of this, it is no great surprise that the work displays such a masterly command of the chorale technique.

Link to the illustration of God with three faces (trifrons) as an image of the Trinity. St. Peter’s Church, Basel, Switzerland. Source: Wikipedia