Bach: Cantata No. 71 “Gott ist mein König” / Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Bach was appointed organist of Divi Blasii Church in Mühlhausen on May 15, 1707, but resigned on June 25, 1708. One of the cantatas from that brief Mühlhausen period is No. 71. The piece was performed at the opening of the city council meeting in Mühlhausen. The instrumentation is festive: three trumpets, timpani, two recorders, two oboes, string orchestra, and basso continuo. The use of chorus in this cantata is unique. The chorus often alternates between singing all the parts together (Coro pleno or Tutti) and singing each part alone (Senza Ripieni). Also, there are no recitative movements in the cantatas of this period.
In the opening chorus, “Gott ist mein König” there are also parts where each part is sung by one chorus member. This is followed by the duet aria “Ich bin nun achtzig Jahr” sung by a soprano and tenor with organ obbligato. The soprano part is the hymn melody “Soll ich auf dieser Welt”. The following chorus, “Dein Alter sei wie deine Jugend” is written as a fugue, but here Bach let the chorus sing by one person in each part (Senza Ripieni). The bass arioso “Tag und Nacht ist dein” is sung by two recorders, two oboes, bassoon, and basso continuo. After a four-beat section in the middle of the piece, the orchestra returns to the beginning section. Next comes the alto aria “Durch mächtige Kraft” in which three trumpets and timpani come in in three-eighths time. The chorus “Du wollest dem Feinde nicht geben” is sung again with two recorders, two oboes, bassoon, string orchestra, and basso continuo.
The final choral piece, “Das neue Regiment auf jeglichen Wegen” begins as a four-beat arioso, changes to three-half time, and then back to four beats. After repeating these turns several times, the piece changes into fugue then also join in the trumpets and timpani. As in the chorus at the beginning, the piece ends quietly with an eighth note played by two recorders. #baroque #bach #cantata #片山俊幸 https://excelkobo.net/bachwerke/archive/BWV0071.pdf
