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

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Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit
BWV 111
Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach
Albert, Duke of Prussia, author of the hymn
OccasionThird Sunday after Epiphany
Chorale"Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit"
by Albert, Duke of Prussia
Performed21 January 1725 (1725-01-21): Leipzig
Movements6
VocalSATB 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.

The cantata is part of Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the second cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. In the style of the cycle, an unknown poet retained the outer stanzas for framing choral movements and paraphrased the inner stanzas into four movements for soloists, alternating arias and recitatives. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes, strings and basso continuo.

History and words

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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.[3] 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).[3][4] The cantata text is based on a chorale in four stanzas, which is still popular. Three stanzas were written by Albert, Duke of Prussia,[2] who introduced the Reformation into Prussia.[5] An anonymous hymnwriter added the final stanza already in the first publication in 1554.[2][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.[2][6] 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.[6]

Bach conducted the Thomanerchor in the first performance on 21 January 1725.[3]

Music

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Structure and scoring

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Bach structured Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit in six movements. Both the text and the tune of the hymn are retained in the outer movements, a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano S, alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes (Ob), two violin parts (Vl), a viola part, and basso continuo.[3][7] The duration is given as 22 minutes.[8]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr's standard work Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach.[3][7] The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit
No. Title Type Vocal Winds Strings Key Time
1 Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit Chorale fantasia SATB 2Ob 2Vl Va A minor cut time
2 Entsetze dich, mein Herze, nicht Aria B A minor common time
3 O Törichter! der sich von Gott entzieht Recitative A B minor common time
4 So geh ich mit beherzten Schritten Aria A T 2Vl Va G major 3
4
5 Drum wenn der Tod zuletzt den Geist Recitative S 2Ob common time
6 Noch eins, Herr, will ich bitten dich Chorale SATB 2Ob 2Vl Va A minor 3
2

Movements

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1

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In the opening chorus, "Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit" (Whatever my God wills, may that happen always),[8] the soprano sings the melody of the chorale[9] as a cantus firmus in long notes. The melody appears in a combination of phrases of different lengths, 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 as movement 25 in his St Matthew Passion.[10] 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][5][11]

2

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The second movement is a bass aria accompanied only by the continuo, "Entzetze dich, mein Herze, nicht," (Do not recoil, my heart).[12] The librettist retained the second line from the hymn unchanged, "Gott ist dein Trost und Zuversicht" (God is your comfort and confidence).[12] unchanged, which Bach treated by using the chorale tune for both the quotation and the free continuation "und deiner Seelen Leben" (and the life of your soul).[5][6][12]

3

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The third movement is an alto secco recitative, "O Törichter! der sich von Gott entzieht" (O fool! that pulls away from God).[6][12]

4

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The fourth movement is a duet of alto and tenor, "So geh ich mit geherzten Schritten, auch wenn mich Gott zum Grabe führt" (Thus I walk with encouraged steps, even when God leads me to my grave),[12] accompanied by the strings.[6] The steps are taken together in 3/4 time, as Julian Mincham described it: "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".[10]

5

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The fifth movement is a soprano recitative, accompanied by the two oboes, "Drum wenn der Tod zuletzt den Geist noch mit Gewalt aus seinem Körper reißt" (Therefore, when death in the end powerfully wrenches the spirit out of its body).[12]. It stresses the final words "O seliges, gewünschtes Ende!" (O blessed, desired end!)[12] in an arioso.[6]

6

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The closing chorale, "Noch eins, Herr, will ich bitten ich" (One more thing, Lord, would I beg of you),[11]is a "simple but powerful four-part setting" of the last stanza, according to Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann.[5][13] Possibly Bach drew the setting from one of his collections, instead of writing a new composition.[2]

Manuscripts and publication

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Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach inherited the autograph score which he passed in the 1750s to Johann Georg Nacke, a kantor who performed the work in Oelsnitz. The score reached the Königliche Bibliothek zu Berlin in 1904. Due to moves during World War II, it is now held by the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków. While Bach's widow passed the parts that she inherited to the city of Leipzig in 1750, they have been lost.[2]

The cantata was first published in 1876 in the first complete edition of Bach's work, the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe. The volume in question was edited by Alfred Dörffel.[2][3] In the Neue Bach-Ausgabe it was published in 1996,[2] edited by Ulrich Leisinger.[3]

Recordings

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The recordings are taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas Website.[14]

Recordings of Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit
Title Conductor / Choir / Orchestra Soloists Label Year Instr.
Bach Made in Germany Vol. 1 – Cantatas II Günther Ramin
Thomanerchor
Gewandhausorchester
Eterna 1953
Bach Made in Germany Vol. 2 – Cantatas IV Kurt Thomas
Thomanerchor
Gewandhausorchester
Eterna 1960
Bach Cantatas Vol. 1 – Advent and Christmas Karl Richter
Münchener Bach-Chor
Münchener Bach-Orchester
Edith Mathis
Archiv Produktion 1972
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 23 Helmuth Rilling
Gächinger Kantorei
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
Hänssler 1980 (1980)
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 6 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Tölzer Knabenchor
Concentus Musicus Wien
Teldec 1981 (1981) Period
Bach Edition Vol. 5 – Cantatas Vol. 2 Pieter Jan Leusink
Holland Boys Choir
Netherlands Bach Collegium
Brilliant Classics 1999 (1999) Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas for the 3rd Sunday of Epiphany John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
Archiv Produktion 2000 (2000) Period
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 12 Ton Koopman
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
Antoine Marchand 2000 (2000) Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 32 – BWV 111, 123, 124, 125 Masaaki Suzuki
Bach Collegium Japan
BIS 2005 (2005) Period

References

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  1. ^ a b Chorale text 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Leisinger 2004.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Bach Digital 2025.
  4. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 200.
  5. ^ a b c d Hofmann 2006.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 206.
  7. ^ a b Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 204–205.
  8. ^ a b Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 204.
  9. ^ Chorale melody 2009.
  10. ^ a b Mincham 2010.
  11. ^ a b Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 205.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Dellal 2025.
  13. ^ Dahn 2025.
  14. ^ Oron 2024.

Cited sources

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