Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 178

Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält
BWV 178
Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach
Justus Jonas, the author of the hymn on which the cantata is based
Occasion	Eighth Sunday after Trinity
Chorale	"Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält" by Justus Jonas
Performed	30 July 1724 (1724-07-30): Leipzig
Movements	7
Vocal	SATB soloists and choir
Instrumental	corno da caccia 2 oboes 2 oboes d'amore 2 violins viola continuo

Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält (If God the Lord does not remain on our side),^[1] BWV 178, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the eighth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 30 July 1724.

It is the eighth cantata Bach composed for his chorale cantata cycle, the second cantata cycle he started after being appointed Thomaskantor in 1723. The cantata is based on the eight stanzas of the hymn "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält" (1524) by Justus Jonas, a paraphrase of Psalm 124. Different from most cantatas in the cycle, the text retains not only the first and last stanza of the chorale, but six stanzas, two of them expanded by contemporary lines by an unknown librettist, who also paraphrased two stanzas into aria texts. The first movement is a chorale fantasia, the second a chorale stanza with recitative, the fourth an aria, the central movement is a chorale for a solo voice, the following two movements repeat the pair of chorale with recitative and aria, and the cantata is closed by two stanzas in a four-part setting. Bach thus wrote five different ways of chorale setting.

The cantata is scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of a horn doubling the chorale melody, two oboes, two oboes d'amore, strings and basso continuo.

Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity.^[2][1] The prescribed readings for the Sunday are from the Epistle to the Romans, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:12–17), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the warning of false prophets from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:15–23).^[2] The cantata text is based on the hymn "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält", published in 1524 by the Lutheran reformer Justus Jonas as a paraphrase of Psalm 124.^[2] The theme of the psalm, the need of help against raging enemies, corresponds to the Gospel. Compared to Bach's other chorale cantatas of the period, the unknown poet kept much of the original text, six of the eight stanzas, expanding two of them by recitative, to connect even closer to the Gospel. He paraphrased only stanzas 3 and 6 to an aria each.^[3][4] In the last aria, in a statement of opposition to rationalism—the "weasel words of rationalists, who would bring down the whole Lutheran theological edifice" in the words of John Eliot Gardiner^[5]—the poet expands the words of the reformers' hymn, "Vernunft kann das nicht fassen" (reason cannot grasp it),^[6] appealing to reason, described as unstable and frenzied, to be silent.^[7]

Bach first performed the cantata on 30 July 1724,^[2][8] as the eighth chorale cantata of his second annual cycle.^[8]

Most of Bach's output was neglected after his death in 1750 until the Bach Revival of the 19th century. However, there was continued interest in the chorale cantatas. There is evidence that Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann performed this cantata in Halle.^[2] Also, Bach's biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, despite having little to say about the cantatas in his life of the composer, borrowed the manuscripts of chorale cantatas from Wilhelm Friedemann, and copied two of them, Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, BWV 9, and this cantata.^[5][9]

Bach structured the cantata in seven movements. Both text and tune of the hymn are retained in the outer choral movements, a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale, and also in the central movement, a chorale for a solo voice, and in two recitatives that include chorale text and melody, one for a solo voice, the other using the choir for the chorale part.^[10] Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of a horn (Co) to reinforce the chorale melody, two oboes (Ob), two oboes d'amore (Oa), two violin parts (Vl), one viola part (Va), and basso continuo.^[11][3] The duration of the cantata is given as 23 minutes.^[1]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Dürr.^[12] The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält

No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält	Jonas	Chorale fantasia	SATB	Co 2Ob	2Vl Va	A minor
2	Was Menschenkraft und -witz anfäht	Jonas, anon.	Chorale and recitative	A
3	Gleichwie die wilden Meereswellen	anon.	Aria	B		2Vl Va	G major	9 8
4	Sie stellen uns wie Ketzern nach	Jonas	Chorale	T	2Oa		B minor
5	Aufsperren sie den Rachen weit	Jonas, anon.	Chorale and recitative	SATB			B minor
6	Schweig, schweig nur, taumelnde Vernunft!	anon.	Aria	T		2Vl Va	E minor
7	Die Feind sind all in deiner Hand	Jonas	Chorale	SATB	2Co	2Vl Va	A minor

As in most of Bach's chorale cantatas, the opening chorus, "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält" (If God the Lord does not remain on our side),^[1] is a chorale fantasia. The chorale tune was published in 1529 by an anonymous author in Wittenberg.^[13] The instruments begin a concerto, with the strings playing "agitated dotted rhythms" and the oboes adding "agitated semiquaver cascades", both throughout the movement,^[13] supplying a sense of unity.^[3]

The soprano sings this chorale melody line by line, doubled by the horn, as a cantus firmus.^[3] The lower voices sing partly in homophony, partly in independent lines similar to the instruments. Bach uses this contrast to illustrate the text in the first lines, with no regard to its negation. "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält" is set in homophony and the last word "hält" (literally: "holds") is held as a long note, whereas in "wenn unsre Feinde toben" the raging of the enemies is expressed in dotted rhythm and fast runs. When the bar form's Stollen is repeated in the following lines, Bach repeats the music also, although it doesn't reflect the text.^[3]

The second movement is a combination of chorale, "Was Menschenkraft und -witz anfäht, soll uns billig nicht schrecken" (What human power and wit conceives shall not easily frighten us),^[6] and interspersed recitative, "Denn Gott der Höchste steht uns bei und machet uns von ihren Stricken frei" (For God the Highest stands with us and frees us from their traps).^[6] Bach distinguishes the chorale lines from the secco recitative by a continuo line on a repeated motif that is derived from the beginning of the respective chorale tune,^[3] termed "in rhythmically compressed form ... four times as fast".^[13]

The first aria, sung by the bass, begins "Gleichwie die wilden Meereswellen mit Ungestüm ein Schiff zerschellen" (Just as the wild sea surf crushes a ship with fury).^[6] It illustrates the image of "wild sea surf" in undulating lines in the voice and also in the obbligato part of the violins in unison, and in the continuo. The bass voice has to sing challenging coloraturas on the words "Meereswellen" and especially "zerscheitern" (be wrecked).^[6][3]

The centre of the cantata is an unchanged stanza of the chorale, "Sie stellen uns wie Ketzern nach, nach unserm Blut sie trachten" (They pursue us as heretics, they seek our blood).^[6] The tenor's unadorned melody is accompanied by the oboes d'amore and the continuo as equal partners.^[10]

The fifth movement is again a combination of chorale, "Auf sperren sie den Rachen weit" (They stretch open their yawning gullet wide),^[6] and recitative, "Nach Löwenart mit brüllendem Getöne" (like lions with rumbling roaring;).^[6] While Bach differentiates chorale and recitative differently in the second movement instrumentally, he uses different vocal forces here, treating the chorale lines to four-part settings, while the the recitatives are assigned to individual singers in the sequence bass, tenor, alto, bass. The continuo unifies the movement by a constant independent regular motion in motifs based on triads.^[7]

The last aria is sung by the tenor, "Schweig, schweig nur, taumelnde Vernunft" (Be silent, hush, frenzied reason!),^[6]. Bach uses a setting for strings that illustrates the instability of "frenzied reason" in syncopated rhythm, interrupted by chords on the repeated appeal "schweig" (be silent). The drama of the aria comes to a rest only at the end of the middle section, when the words "so werden sie mit Trost erquicket" (they will be revived with solace)^[6] are marked adagio and lead to a fermata.^[7]

The cantata is closed by two stanzas of the chorale, "Die Feind sind all in deiner Hand, darzu all ihr Gedanken" (The enemies are all in your hand, together with all their thoughts),^[6] both stanzas in the same four-part setting.^[3][14]

Bach's eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann was in possession of a set of parts for the cantata. These manuscripts were written by various scribes including the composer. The set is preserved in Leipzig.^[2]

The cantata was first published in 1888 in the first complete edition of Bach's work, the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe. The volume in question was edited by Alfred Dörffel.^[2][4] In the Neue Bach-Ausgabe it was published in 1966, edited by Alfred Dürr, with a critical report following in 1967.^[2]

A list of recordings is provided on the Bach Cantatas Website.^[15] Ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performance are shown with green background. The type of choir is generally not indicated, an exception being made for the recording directed by Sigiswald Kuijken, which is unusual for being sung one voice per part. This version was favourably reviewed in the Gramophone, whose critic suggested that this cantata was one of those suited to a small-scale performance.^[16]

• "Wo Gott, der Herr, nicht bei uns hält BWV 178; BC A 112". Bach Digital. 2024.
• Dahn, Luke (2024). "BWV 178.7". bach-chorales.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
• Dellal, Pamela (2024). "BWV 178 – "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält"". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
• Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 178". The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 456–460. ISBN 978-0-19-969628-4.
• Gardiner, John Eliot (2008). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 45, 46, 101, 102, 136 & 178 (Cantatas Vol 5) (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 11 August 2018.
• Hiemke, Sven (2017). "Foreword". Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält / Wherever God is not with us / BWV 178 (PDF). Carus-Verlag. p. 4. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
• Hofmann, Klaus (2002). "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BwWV 178 / If God the Lord is not with us" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 9. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
• Oron, Aryeh (2024). "Cantata BWV 178 Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
• Freeman-Attwood, Jonathan (2006). "Wo Gott, der Herr, nicht bei uns hält BWV 178; BC A 112". Gramophone (registration required). Retrieved 21 July 2024.

• Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 178: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Cantata BWV 178 Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält history, scoring, sources for text and music, translations to various languages, discography, discussion, Bach Cantatas Website
• Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 382–385. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
• Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 9 BWV 178 Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
• BWV 178 Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält English translation, University of Vermont
• BWV 178 Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält text, scoring, University of Alberta