The heavens are telling of God in glory
Cantata for the 2nd Sunday afer Trinity / Reformation Day BWV 76, 1723
The cantata "Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes" (The heavens are telling of God in glory) BWV 76 by Johann Sebastian Bach was written for the 2nd Sunday after Trinity, which fell on 6 June 1723 in the year it was first performed. This ambitious two-part work was the second cantata which Bach wrote after taking up the position of Kantor of St. Thomas’s in Leipzig. Bach’s aim was evidently to demonstrate a particularly wide range of musical forms in both the arias and the recitatives in this cantata. The opening chorus is based on verses 2 and 4 of Psalm 19, with verse 4 structured as a choral fugue. Both parts of the cantata end with a chorale movement with different verses from the Lutheran hymn "Es woll uns Gott genädig sein". The text refers loosely to the epistle reading from the 1st letter of St John, but deals more with general thoughts about the temptations of the Christian which can be overcome through love. Bach also performed the first part of the cantata later with minor revisions, but evidently no alterations to the text, on Reformation Day in Leipzig.
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Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach
| 1685-1750Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most important composers of Western music history. He came from a widely ramified musical dynasty, which produced numerous musicians and organists in the Thuringian-Saxon area.
Bach vocal
Ever since Carus-Verlag was founded in 1972, publishing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has been a special focus for us. In the 2017 Reformation anniversary year we completed the Bach vocal project. Bach's complete sacred vocal works are now available in modern Urtext editions, together with performance material. A complete edition of all the full scores is also available in a high quality box set. Personal details
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Editor
Ulrich Leisinger
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Continuo realization
Paul Horn
| 1922-2016Paul Horn war ein deutscher Kirchenmusiker, Organist, Komponist und Musikwissenschaftler. Er studierte Kirchenmusik und Orgel an der Evangelischen Kirchenmusikschule Esslingen am Neckar bei Hans-Arnold Metzger und Musikwissenschaft, Theologie und Geschichte an der Universität Tübingen. Seine berufliche Laufbahn begann als Kantor an der Evangelischen Michaelskirche in Stuttgart-Degerloch. 1954 wurde er Kantor an der Evangelischen Stadtkirche Ravensburg, eine Position, die er bis zu seiner Pensionierung innehatte. Als Musikwissenschaftler arbeitete Horn bis ins hohe Alter eng mit Carus zusammen. So stammen zahlreiche Carus-Klavierauszüge aus seiner Feder. Personal details
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Translator
Vernon Wicker
| 1934-2024