Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, BWV 197a

Bach composed the work in Leipzig for Christmas Day in 1728 or 1729. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Epistle of Titus, "God's mercy appeared" ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Titus|chapter=2|verse=11|range=–14}}) or from Isaiah, "Unto us a child is born" ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Isaiah|chapter=9|verse=2|range=–7}}), and from the Gospel of Luke, the Nativity, Annunciation to the shepherds and the angels' song ({{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Luke|chapter=2|verse=1|range=–14}}). The text of the cantata is by Picander. The chorale is from the 1697 hymn "Ich freue mich in dir" by Caspar Ziegler.{{cite book|last=Dürr|first=Alfred|title=The cantatas of J.S. Bach: with their librettos in German-English parallel text|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-929776-4|page=101|others=Jones, Richard (trans.)}} Bach later revised the piece into Gott ist unsre Zuversicht, BWV 197.2.Work {{BDW|0244}} at Bach Digital website.

The cantata is scored for solo alto and bass voices, a four-part choir, two flutes, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, bassoon, cello, and continuo.{{cite web|url=http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/197a.html|title=BWV 197a|publisher=University of Alberta|access-date=21 December 2013}}

The piece has seven movements (although there may also have been an opening sinfonia):

1. Chorus: {{lang|de|Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe|italic=no}}
2. Aria: {{lang|de|Erzählet, ihr Himmel, die Ehre Gottes|italic=no}}
3. Recitative: {{lang|de|O! Liebe, der kein Lieben gleich|italic=no}}
4. Aria: {{lang|de|O du angenehmer Schatz|italic=no}}
5. Recitative: {{lang|de|Das Kind ist mein|italic=no}}
6. Aria: {{lang|de|Ich lasse dich nicht|italic=no}}
7. Chorale: {{lang|de|Wohlan! so will ich mich|italic=no}}

Only the last four movements of the piece are extant.{{cite web|url=https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-38-bwv-197a|author=Mincham, Julian|title=Chapter 38 BWV 197a|website=The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach|access-date=9 September 2022}}

The nineteen surviving bars of the fourth movement, an alto aria, demonstrate a rare bassoon obbligati and assume a combined ritornello-ternary form.

The fifth movement is a bass recitative with only continuo accompaniment. It is a "harmonically adventurous", "forceful little movement marked by a robust melodic line".

The following bass aria is accompanied by oboe d'amore and continuo, and is a "jaunty, pastoral dance" in {{music|time|6|8}} time and ritornello-ternary form. The movement is notable for a long rising melisma omitted from the reworked version in BWV 197/2.

Musicologist Julian Mincham suggests that the chorale is "one of the sturdiest in the repertoire".

The recordings are taken from the listing on Bach-Cantatas:{{cite web| last = Oron| first = Aryeh| url = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV197a.htm| title = Cantata BWV 197a / Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe| publisher = Bach-Cantatas| access-date = 26 December 2015}}

• Gächinger Kantorei / Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling. Edition Bachakademie Vol. 140. Hänssler, 1999.
• Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki. J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 54. BIS, 2012.

{{reflist}}

• {{IMSLP2|work=Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, BWV 197a (Bach, Johann Sebastian)|cname=Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, BWV 197a}}
• [https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000245 Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe BWV 197a; BC A 11 / Sacred cantata (1st Christmas Day)]: Leipzig University
• [http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV197a.html BWV 197a Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe]: English translation, University of Vermont
• Luke Dahn: [http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0197a_7.htm BWV 197a.7] bach-chorales.com

{{Bach's third cantata cycle and later}}

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Category:Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach

Category:1728 compositions

Category:Christmas cantatas