(God is my King), , is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach written in Mühlhausen when the composer was 22 years old. Unusually for an early cantata by Bach, the date of first performance is known: at the inauguration of a new town council on 4 February 1708.
The text is compiled mainly from biblical sources, three different sections from Psalm 74 and several other verses. In addition, one stanza from Johann Heermann's hymn "" is sung simultaneously with corresponding biblical text, and free poetry by an unknown poet of Bach's time which relates to the political occasion. The cantata in seven movements is scored festively with a Baroque instrumental ensemble including trumpets and timpani, "four separate instrumental 'choirs', set against a vocal consort of four singers, an optional Capelle of ripienists and an organ". Stylistically it shares features with Bach's other early cantatas.
Bach, then organist in Mühlhausen's church Divi Blasii, led the performance on 4 February 1708 in the town's main church, the Marienkirche. Although the cantata was planned to be performed only twice, it was printed the same year, the first of his works to be printed and the only cantata extant in print that was printed in Bach's lifetime.
History and words
From 1707 to 1708, Bach was the organist at one of Mühlhausen's principal churches, Divi Blasii, dedicated to St Blaise, where he composed some of his earliest surviving cantatas. One or two early cantatas, for example Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150, may have been written at Arnstadt, his previous residence, for a performance at Mühlhausen. He composed Gott ist mein König for a church service that was held annually to celebrate the inauguration of a new town council.
The librettist is unknown; it has been speculated that the text was written by Georg Christian Eilmar, minister of Marienkirche, who had earlier prompted the composition of Bach's cantata Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131. It has also been thought that Bach himself may have assembled the text, although the suggestion is unlikely since Bach's musical setting of the final part of the text departs from its bi-strophic form. There is no evidence either way to indicate the authorship of the cantata's text. Along with other early cantatas, Gott ist mein König is of a pre-Neumeister character, not featuring the combination of recitative and arias found in later cantatas.
The service was held on 4 February 1708 in the Marienkirche, the town's largest church. The score indicates that Bach deployed his musicians in different locations in the building. He composed another cantata for the occasion the following year, but it is lost.
Theme
The text centres on Psalm 74, with additional material drawn from the 2 Samuel, Genesis, and Deuteronomy. Unusual for Bach's early cantatas, some contemporary unknown poet added free text that makes reference to the "new regiment" of office bearers and the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany, Joseph I, as Mühlhausen was an Imperial free city, thus subject immediately to the emperor.
There are three quotations from Psalm 74 (): Verse 12: "" ("God is my Sovereign since ancient days, who all salvation brings which on earth may be found." – ASV version: "Yet God is my King of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.") Verses 16–17: "" ("Day and night are Yours. You have seen to it that both sun and planets have their certain courses. You set borders to every land." – ASV: "The day is thine, the night also is thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth.") Verse 19: "" ("You would not give the soul of Your turtledove to the enemy." – ASV: "Oh deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast.")
It has been suggested that these themes include a number of distinct allusions of relevance to the inhabitants of Mühlhausen. First, the reference to Psalm 74 in general, and the inclusion of verse 19 in the cantata may be making an oblique reference, accessible to contemporary audiences, to the fire of May 1707 which had destroyed parts of the city. The importance of "borders" may be an allusion to the threat to the city's independence posed by the military campaigns of Charles XII.