Cantata BWV 120
Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille
Cantata BWV 120a
Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge
Cantata BWV 120b
Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille
Provenance

Provenance

BWV 120 (Sometime before 1730, possibly 1729)

(NBA KB I/32.2 pp. 69-89, 1994)

Primary Source:

Bach’s autograph score (no record of the missing original parts has been found)

1^st owner: It is not known which family member inherited it from Bach’s estate

2^nd owner: either Johann Georg Nacke (1718-1804) or Christian Friedrich Penzel (1737-1801)

3^rd owner: Johann Gottlob Schuster (1765-1839) acquired it from either Nacke, his teacher and predecessor as cantor in Oelsnitz or from Penzel, the brother of Schuster’s mother

4^th owner: Frank Hauser (1794-1870) acquired it from Schuster in 1833

5^th owner: BB (die Berliner Staatsbibliothek) acquired it from the Hauser Collection in 1904

Lost during and after WWII when the BB transferred it for safe keeping to a monastery in Lower Silesia

After the war it somehow disappeared and was later rediscovered toward the end of the 1970s, along with other valuable manuscripts in the Biblioteka Jagiellonska of the Jagiellonski University in Krakow, Poland. This is where it is located today.

Description of the autograph score:

The score can be dated to 1742 or one of the following years. Although this late date can be verified by Bach’s handwriting style of that period, the cantata essentially stems from an earlier period. Mvts. 1, 2, 4 and possibly 5 look back to previous compositions. The cantata may have been performed on either August 17, 1742, August 26, 1743, or August 31, 1744. Nevertheless, the larger portion of the music involved here stems from 1729 or a little earlier. There is no solid evidence for a specific performance date for this proto version of this Ratskantate in this earlier time range.

Bach’s title on top of the 1^st page of music:

J. J. Concerto à 4 Voci. due Hautb. due Violini, Viola, 3 Trombe, Tamburi è | Continuo

Hautb. seems to be corrected to Flaut. or Fl.

The 1^st mvt. after m 88 ends with DC. On the 4^th page Bach writes: Chorus, Trombe è Tamburi, Hautb è Violini in unison

at the end of the 8^th page (front side) there is a DC after m 86, then follows: NB. Volti, seque il Recit: Basso

Nach der letzter[en] Soprano Aria, folget kommendes Recit: und | beschließt mit dem Choral Then mvt. 5 follows with a Volti | Choral

On the back of page 8 is mvt. 6, Choral, and after m 16: Fine and below that: In Fine Intrada con Trombe | e Tamburi [This Intrada is missing. It is not known whether this Intrada would have been Bach’s own composition.]

below this on the same page is mvt. 3, Recit Basso at the end of which Aria appears

The front of page 9 contains mvt. 4: Aria. Violino concertino, due Violini, Viola è Soprano

The back of page 9 and the front and back of p. 10 contain mvt. 4, at the end of which there is Da Capo and Seq Recit sub signo pag. 15 [the pages are not numbered!]

BWV 120a (1729 or Leipzig in the 1720s or possibly even 1730)

(NBA KB I/33 pp.54-77, 1958)

Primary Source Materials:

A. An incomplete set of parts (about half of the usual set of parts is missing). The remaining parts are

1. Canto
2. Alto
3. Tenore
4. Baßo
5. Viola
6. Continuo
7. Continuo
8. Continuo (transposed with mvts. 1, 2, and 5 having a figured bass)

The handwriting of 5 separate individuals can be distinguished (one is Johann Ludwig Krebs and another is J. S. Bach)

B. A fragmentary autograph score

Earliest known owner of this score after Bach’s death is Johann Ludwig Erk (1807-1883). After his death, the manuscript went to the BB (Staatsbibliothek Berlin).

Title page is missing, the score begins with the end of mvt. 4 (mm 128-138).

For the remaining mvts. indicates the usual instrumentation, Da Capo, Volti, Aria, Recit., and Choral. For the final chorale indicates:

Die Trompetten u. Pauken pausiren den 1. Vers. At the end Bach writes: Fine | D.S.G. A final separate page is a fragment (incomplete conclusion) of another unknown cantata. It appears to be the end of an aria (only 5 mm of the basso continuo are written out, after which Bach writes D.C., then Recit. with the following text incipit: Bey Jesu bin ich auch nicht fremde etc., then Choral. followed by empty staves. This has been identified as the conclusion of a cantata for the 2^nd Day of Easter, text by Picander-Henrici: “Ich bin ein Pilgrim auf der Welt” from his cantata cycle printed in 1728 (reprinted in his Ernst=Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte. Theil III, Leipzig, 1732, pp. 123-124.

The score was probably composed in great haste: “Wahrscheinlich ist diese Trauungskantate in großer Eile entstanden” Likewise the copy process was also affected by the pressure of time with many errors due to carelessness caused by haste: “Die besondere Eile bei der Anfertigung der Hs. A läßt sich aus den Fehlern entnehmen.” (p. 59)

The BG publications, BGA 41, pp. 149ff. Alfred Dörffel, 1894 and BGA 13, pp. XIV, Wilhelm Rust, 1864, did not have access to the fragmentary score. The first description of the autograph score was published in 1936

BWV 120b (June 26, 1730 2^nd Day of Jubilation on the 200^th Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession)

(NBA KB I/34 p. 46, 1990)

Sources:

Music is lost

All that remains of this cantata are two printings of the text: “Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille”

1. Picander = Henrici Ernst=Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte, Dritter Theil, Leipzig, 1732, pp. 75-77

2. Christoph Ernst Sicul ANNALIUM LIPSIENSIUM MAXIME ACADEMICORUM SECTIO XXXVIII, Leipzig, 1731, pp. 1129-1130

BWV 120 correspondences

Parody Connections to and from the BWV 120 complex of cantatas

Lost soprano aria with concertante violin obbligato? from a wedding cantata? (1717-1723)

Or from a lost middle mvt. of a violin concerto? (1717-1723) {see Fr. Smend, Bach in Köthen, Berlin, 1951, pp. 62-67}

BWV 1019a/3 version 2 Cantabile, ma un poco adagio from Sonata 6 in G major for violin and harpsichord (early years in Leipzig)

cf. motivic similarity with BWV 35/2 Aria Alto “Geist und Seele wird verwirret” (1726)

BWV 120/4 Aria Soprano: “Heil und Segen” (Sometime before 1730, possibly 1729)

BWV 120a/3 Aria Soprano: “Leit, o Gott, durch deine Liebe” (1730, or more probably 1729 or earlier)


BWV 1006/1 Preludio for Solo Violin (1720)

BWV 120a/4 Wedding Cantata Sinfonia with Organ Obbligato (1729 or Leipzig in the 1720s or possibly even 1730)

BWV 29/1 Ratswahl Cantata Sinfonia with Organ Obbligato (1731, Repeat Performances 1739, 1749)

BWV 1006/1 Prelude from Suite in E for (Lute?) (c. 1736-1737)


BWV 120/2 Chor: “Jauchzet, ihr erfreuten Stimmen” (Sometime before 1730, possibly 1729)

BWV 120a/1 Chor: “Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge” (1729 or Leipzig in the 1720s or possibly even 1730)

BWV 120b/2 Chor: “Zahle, Zion, die Gelübde” (1730)

BWV 232/21 Credo: “Et expecto” (1748/1749)


BWV 137/5 Choral verse 5 of “Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König” (1725)

BWV 120a/8 Chorale verses 4 & 5 of “Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König” (1729 or Leipzig in the 1720s or possibly even 1730)

Correspondences within the BWV 120, BWV 120a, and BWV 120b group:

BWV 120/1 = BWV 120a/6 = BWV 120b/1

BWV 120/2 = BWV 120a/1 = BWV 120b/2

BWV 120/4 = BWV 120a/3 = BWV 120b/4

Contrubuted by Thomas Braatz (July 14-15, 2008)

BWV 120b=BWV 120.3 References: BGA: - | NBA: I/34 | BC: B 28 | Zwang: - | First Published: - | Provenance | Bach Digital