Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79

Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild
BWV 79
Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach
Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, beginning the Reformation
Occasion	Reformation Day
Performed	31 October 1725 (1725-10-31): Leipzig
Movements	6
Cantata text	anonymous
Bible text	Psalms 84:11
Chorale	"Nun danket alle Gott" by Martin Rinckart "Nun laßt uns Gott dem Herren" by Ludwig Helmbold
Vocal	SATB choir and soloists
Instrumental	2 horns timpani 2 oboes 2 violins viola continuo

Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild (God the Lord is sun and shield), BWV 79, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig in 1725, his third year as Thomaskantor, for Reformation Day and led the first performance on 31 October 1725.

The text was written by an unknown poet, who did not refer to the prescribed readings for the day. Bach began the libretto for the feast with a quotation from Psalm 84 and included two hymn stanzas, the first from Martin Rinckart's "Nun danket alle Gott", associated with Reformation Day in Leipzig, as movement 3, and as the last movement the final stanza of Ludwig Helmbold's "Nun laßt uns Gott dem Herren". Bach composed a work of "festive magnificence", structured in six movements, with an aria following the opening chorus, a pair of recitative and duet following the first chorale. He scored the work for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns, timpani, two transverse flutes (added for a later performance), two oboes, strings and continuo. He achieved a unity within the structure by using the horns not only in the opening but also as obbligato instruments in the two chorales, the first time even playing the same motifs.

Bach performed the cantata again, probably in 1730. He later reworked the music of the opening chorus and a duet again in his Missa in G major, BWV 236, and the music of an alto aria in his Missa in A major, BWV 234.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata in his third year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig. While he had written complete annual cycles for many occasions of the liturgical year the first two years in the position, he slowed down in the third. For the Reformation Day, he composed this new cantata, his first extant work for the occasion. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, "be steadfast against adversaries" (2 Thessalonians 2:3–8), and from the Book of Revelation, fear God and honour him (Revelation 14:6–8). The writer of the text – an unknown poet – was not concerned about the readings, and began with a quotation from Psalm 84 (Psalms 84:11). He included the first stanza from Martin Rinckart's hymn "Nun danket alle Gott" and as the closing chorale the final stanza of Ludwig Helmbold's hymn "Nun laßt uns Gott dem Herren". According to the Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann, the first of these hymns was sung regularly after the sermon on Reformation Day in Leipzig.

Bach first performed the cantata on 31 October 1725. He repeated it again, probably in 1730, with minor changes in the scoring, doubling the oboes by flutes and assigning a flute as the obbligato instrument in the alto aria. He used the music of the opening chorus and the duet again in his Missa in G major, BWV 236, and the music of the alto aria in his Missa in A major, BWV 234.

Scoring and structure

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. A chorale movement is followed by an aria, a chorale, recitative and duet, closed by another chorale. He scored the work for three vocal soloists (soprano, alto, bass), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns (Co), timpani (Ti), two flauto traverso (Ft), two oboes (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo. The title page of the autograph score reads: "Festo Reformat. / Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild / a / 4 Voci / 2 Corni / Tamburi / 2 Hautb. / 2 Viol. / Viola / e / Cont. / di / J.S.Bach".

In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79

No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild	anon.	Chorus	SATB	2Co Ti 2Ft 2Ob	2Vl Va	G major
2	Gott ist unser Sonn und Schild	anon.	Aria	A	Ob		D major	6/8
3	Nun danket alle Gott	Rinckart	Chorale	SATB	2Co Ti 2Ft 2Ob	2Vl Va
4	Gottlob! Wir wissen den rechten Weg zur Seligkeit	anon.	Recitative	B
5	Gott, ach Gott, verlaß die Deinen nimmermehr	anon	Aria	S B		2Vl	B minor
6	Erhalt uns in der Wahrheit	Helmbold	Chorale	SATB	2Co Ti 2Ft 2Ob	2Vl Va

Music

Schlosskirche, Wittenberg, main door

As Hofmann points out, Bach achieved "festive magnificence", using two horns and timpani not only in the opening chorus but also as obbligato instruments in the two chorales. Bach established unity of form by using a horn motif from the first movement again in the first chorale, juxtaposed to the hymn tune.

1

The cantata opens with a choral movement, "Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild" (God the Lord is sun and shield). The instrumental ritornello introduces two themes: "a festive, march-like theme for the horns and timpani, and a more lively counter-theme that develops from a note that is heard seven times." The musicologist Julian Mincham notes that the ritornello, structured in three parts, is among the longest among Bach's opening choruses. The horns are silent in the middle section, but the voices enter "an imitative discussion of a simplified version of the string theme from the ritornello. Complex contrapuntal texture is used as the vehicle to convey the important and ultimately optimistic message ... The driving rhythms infusing the intricate swirling counterpoint produce an effect that is totally infectious", as Mincham writes. John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted during his Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000 the cantatas for Reformation at the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg where the Reformation began, describes the opening chorus as a ceremonial procession, and hears the "insistent drum beat" going along with the "fanfares of the high horns" as a "the hammering of Luther’s theses to the oak door at the back of the church".

2

The aria for alto and an obbligato oboe, "Gott ist unsre Sonn und Schild!" (God is our sun and shield!), expresses similar ideas as the first movement in a personal way, described as "tranquil and individual" by Mincham. In a later version, the oboe is replaced by a transverse flute.

3

In the first chorale, "Nun danket alle Gott" (Now let everyone thank God), Bach uses the first theme of the opening again, simultaneously with the chorale tune. Helmuth Rilling notes the unity of topic, praise and thanks to God, for the first three movements. The praise, individual in the preceding aria, is now communal again, "a rousing hymn, now given the most extrovert of settings!" Gardiner assumes that the sermon may have followed the chorale.

4

The only recitative, sung by the bass, "Gottlob, wir wissen den rechten Weg zur Seligkeit" (Praise God, we know the right way to blessedness), mentions the reason for thanks on this occasion. The phrase "Du hast uns durch dein Wort gewiesen" (You have instructed us through Your word) addresses "the basic issues of the Reformation", as Rilling points out.

5

A duet for bass and soprano, "Gott, ach Gott, verlaß die Deinen nimmermehr!" (God, ah God, abandon Your own ones never again!), expresses a prayer for protection. The voices are in homophony, beginning without the instruments, while a "sharply contoured violin theme" appears first alone, then together with the voices. All violins play it in unison. The motif was attributed by the Bach scholar Albert Schweitzer to tumult, representing the "raging of enemies" mentioned in the text. Gardiner hears in the "innocent" setting of the voices "a pre-echo … of Papageno and Papagena, a Mozartian impression, reinforced by the hint of Eine kleine Nachtmusik in the violin ritornelli".

6

The cantata ends with a four-part setting of the second chorale, "Erhalt uns in der Wahrheit" (Uphold us in the truth), asking for the gifts of truth and eternal freedom. The horns play again independently, but not in the rousing way of movement 3.

Selected recordings

The sortable table is taken from the selection on the Bach-Cantatas website with the addition of the recent recording by The Sixteen. Choirs are roughly marked as large (by red background); instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are highlighted green under the header Instr..

Recordings of Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79

Title	Conductor / Choir / Orchestra	Soloists	Label	Year	Choir type	Instr.
The RIAS Bach Cantatas Project (1949–1952)	Karl Ristenpart RIAS Kammerchor RIAS-Kammerorchester	Agnes Giebel Lorri Lail Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau	Audite	1950 (1950)	Chamber	Chamber
J. S. Bach: CantataBWV 39 & BWV 79	Fritz Lehmann Berliner Motettenchor Berliner Philharmoniker	Gunthild Weber Lore Fischer Hermann Schey	Archiv Produktion	1952 (1952)		Symphony
J. S. Bach: Kantate 'Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn' und Schild	Karl Richter Münchener Bach-Chor Members of the Bavarian State Opera Munich	Antonia Fahberg Beatrice Krebs Kieth Engen	Decca	1955 (1955)	Bach	Bach
J.S. Bach: Cantata No. 140, Cantata No. 57	Karl Ristenpart Chorus of the Conservatory of Sarrebruck Chamber Orchestra of the Saar	Ingeborg Reichelt Annelotte Sieber-Ludwig Jakob Stämpfli	Accord	1958 (1958)	Chamber	Chamber
Les Grandes Cantates de J.S. Bach Vol. 19	Fritz Werner Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra	Edith Selig Claudia Hellmann Jakob Stämpfli	Erato	1964 (1964)		Chamber
J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 80 & BWV 79	Wolfgang Gönnenwein Süddeutscher Madrigalchor Consortium Musicum	Elly Ameling Janet Baker Hans Sotin	EMI	1967 (1967)		Period
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Fol / Vol. 20 – BWV 76-79	Gustav Leonhardt Knabenchor Hannover Collegium Vocale Gent Leonhardt-Consort	Soloist of the Knabenchor Hannover Paul Esswood Max van Egmond	Teldec	1980 (1980)	Boys	Period
Bach Made in Germany Vol. 4 – Cantatas X	Hans-Joachim Rotzsch Thomanerchor Gewandhausorchester	Arleen Augér Ortrun Wenkel Theo Adam	Eterna	1982 (1982)	Boys	Symphony
Lecture Concerts – New Recordings Cantatas	Helmuth Rilling Frankfurter Kantorei Gächinger Kantorei Bach-Collegium Stuttgart	Sibylla Rubens Ingeborg Danz Markus Marquardt	Hänssler	1997 (1997)
Bach Edition Vol. 15 – Cantatas Vol. 8	Pieter Jan Leusink Holland Boys Choir Netherlands Bach Collegium	Ruth Holton Sytse Buwalda Bas Ramselaar	Brilliant Classics	2000 (2000)	Boys	Period
For the 19th Sunday after Trinity; For the Feast of Reformation	John Eliot Gardiner Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists	Joanne Lunn William Towers Peter Harvey	Soli Deo Gloria	2000 (2000)		Period
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 16	Ton Koopman Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir	Sandrine Piau Bogna Bartosz Klaus Mertens	Antoine Marchand	2001 (2001)		Period
J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 40 – BWV 79, 137, 164, 168	Masaaki Suzuki Bach Collegium Japan	Yukari Nonoshita Robin Blaze Peter Kooy	BIS	2007 (2007)		Period
J. S. Bach: Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält	Georg Christoph Biller Thomanerchor Gewandhausorchester	soloists of the Thomanerchor Gotthold Schwarz	Rondeau Production	2008 (2008)	Boys	Symphony
J.S. Bach Lutheran Masses, Vol. II	Harry Christophers The Sixteen Orchestra of The Sixteen	soloists of The Sixteen	Coro	2014 (2014)	Chamber	Period

Sources

• Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild BWV 79; BC A 184 / Sacred cantata (Reformation Day 31 October) Leipzig University
• BWV 79 Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild text, scoring, University of Alberta