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Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren
May there be praise and glory and honour
Gott Vater, Sohn und Heil'gem Geist!
May it be his will to increase in us
Der woll' in uns vermehren,
for God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Was er uns aus Genad' verheißt,
what he promised us through his grace,
Daß wir ihm fest vertrauen,
so that we firmly trust him,
Gänzlich uns laß'n auf ihn,
surrender ourselves wholly to him,
Von Herzen auf ihn bauen,
build on him in our hearts,
Daß uns'r Herz, Mut und Sinn
so that our heart, spirit and mind
Ihm festiglich anhangen.
steadfastly depend on him.
Drauf singen wir zur Stund:
For this reason we sing now:
Amen, wir werd'n's erlangen,
Amen, we shall achieve this,
Glaub'n wir aus Herzengrund.
we believe from the bottom of our hearts. |
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This four-part motet with continuo is virtually identical except in text and instrumentation to the second movement of Cantata BWV 28. The cantata ("Gottlob! nungeht das Jahr zu Ende") was first performed on 30th December 1725 with the four choral parts doubled by cornett and trombones, oboes and bassoon, strings and continuo. The motet version seems to have been used on a separate occasion; at one stage it appears to have provided the "filling"in a sandwich comprising a setting by Telemann of "Jauchzet dem Herrn alle Welt" for double choir, and an "Amen, Lob und Ehre" attributed to J.G. Harrer.
Bach's motet differs from his cantata movement in using the last, as opposed to the first verse of Johann Gramann's celebrated hymn "Nun lob' mein Seel, den Herren". As with "0 Jesu Christ" (BWV 118) the chorale tune is given out in long note values by the sopranos, while the three lower voices and the occasionally independent continuo engage in close imitative counterpoint. At times this becomes chromatic a way that is reminiscent of the central fugue of "Fürchte dich nicht (BWV 228)
(From the notes of John Eliot Gardiner's recording on Erato with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists) |
