(We thank you, God, we thank you), 29, is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig in 1731 for , the annual inauguration of a new town council, and first performed it on 27 August of that year. The cantata was part of a festive service in the . The cantata text by an unknown author includes in movement 2 the beginning of Psalm 75, and as the closing chorale the fifth stanza of Johann Gramann's "". Bach scored the work in eight movements for four vocal parts and a festive Baroque orchestra of three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, strings, an obbligato organ and basso continuo. The organ dominates the first movement Sinfonia which Bach derived from a Partita for violin. The full orchestra accompanies the first choral movement and plays with the voices in the closing chorale, while a sequence of three arias alternating with two recitatives is scored intimately.
Bach used the music from the choral movement for both the and of his Mass in B minor.
History and words
Bach composed the cantata in 1731 for , the inauguration of the new town council, which was celebrated annually in a festive service in the on the Monday following the feast day of St. Bartholomew . It was not a democratic election, but a "ceremonial transfer of office" of council members who were appointed. The service was not part of the liturgical year with cantata texts related to prescribed biblical epistle and gospel readings. For the same occasion, Bach had already written the cantata , in his first year in Leipzig, 1723. For the Ratswechsel service, he could count on the entire council (his employer) listening, probably also civil servants and representatives of the Elector's administration for the region. The musicologist Klaus Hofmann notes: "It was an opportunity for Bach to show how sacred music was flourishing under his direction and to present himself as a composer."
The cantata text of Wir danken dir, Gott by an unknown author includes in movement 2 the first verse of Psalm 75 () and as the closing chorale the fifth stanza of Johann Gramann's hymn of praise "" (1540).
Bach first performed the cantata on 27 August 1731. In 1733, he adapted the music of the first choral movement with only minor changes for the of his Kyrie-Gloria Mass for the Dresden court, on a text expressing the same idea in Latin. According to Hofmann, the movement is based on an earlier lost composition.
Bach performed the cantata for Ratswechsel at least two more times, on 31 August 1739 and on 25 August 1749. He expanded the Missa of 1733 to his Mass in B minor and concluded his work by repeating the music as the .
Scoring and structure
The cantata is structured in eight movements and takes about 28 minutes to perform. The instrumentation reflects the festive occasion for which it was written. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass) (B), a four-part choir, and a Baroque orchestra of three trumpets (Tr), timpani (Ti), two oboes (Ob), two violins (Vl) (violin solo in movement 3), violas (Va), an obbligato organ (Org) and basso continuo (Bc). The autograph score is titled: "Bey der Rahts-Wahl / 1731. / Wir dancken dir, Gott, wir dancken dir. / à / 4 Voci. / 3 Trombe / Tamburi / 2 Hautbois / 2 Violini / Viola / e / Continuo / con Organo obligato / di / Joh.Seb:Bach.
In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, and the abbreviations for voices and instruments the list of Bach cantatas. The time signature is provided using the symbol for common time (4/4). The timpani are listed with the trumpets because they always play together.
Music
1
The cantata is one of few sacred Bach cantatas opened by an orchestral sinfonia. Another is the early . The music is an arrangement of the prelude from Bach's Partita for violin, BWV 1006, which Bach had already revised for organ and strings in 1729 for the wedding cantata . In the cantata for Ratswechsel, the solo organ plays the original violin part "in virtuoso motoric writing", while the full orchestra adds an accompaniment.