Johann Sebastian Bach Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir

We thank Thee, Lord, God,
and we marvel at all Thy wonders.

Halleluja, Strength and Might
may Thy name be hight exalted!
Zion is Thy chosen site,
there hast Thou Thy dwellingplace,
there will we and our discendants know the Father’s loving grace.

Praise God! for all is well!
God, our Preserver, true and tried,
our Light, our Hope, our Guide,
Protector He of high and low,
our very lives to Him we owe.
He blesses those of ev’ry station.
Here Righteousness is met with Peace,
and Truth and Mercy on a firm foundation.
What people is there anywhere,

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Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir
und verkündigen deine Wunder. (Psalm 75, 2)

Halleluja, Stärk’ und Macht
sei des Allerhöchsten Namen!
Zion ist noch seine Stadt,
da er seine Wohnung hat,
da er noch bei unserm Samen
an der Väter Bund gedacht.

Gottlob! es geht uns wohl!
Gott ist noch unsre Zuversicht,
sein Schutz, sein Trost und Licht
beschirmt die Stadt und Paläste,
sein Flügel hält die Mauern feste.
Er lässt uns aller Orten segnen,
der Treue, die den Frieden küsst,
muss für und für

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Uwe Wolf
Translation: David Kosviner

The cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (We thank Thee, Lord, God, we thank Thee) BWV 29 belongs to the few cantatas in which Bach himself noted the year of composition in the score: “Bey der Raths-Wahl | 1731” (“For the council elections | 1731”). The cantata may therefore have first been ceremoniously performed in 1731 in celebration of the change of council which always took place on the Monday after St. Bartholomew’s Day (24 August). In 1731 this Monday fell on 27 August. Subsequent performances in 1739 and 1749 have been substantiated. The music of the first choral movement of the cantata also reappeared as the “Gratias” in the Gloria of the Missa BWV 232I in 1733 which was incorporated into the B minor Mass BWV 232, about fifteen years later. In that Mass it forms the basis for the “Dona nobis pacem,” the crowning conclusion of the Mass. There are, however, clear indications that the movement of the cantata as well as the movements of the Mass can be traced back to a common, but now lost prototype.

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