Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, BWV 248 III
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, BWV 248III, is a 1734 church cantata for the third day of Christmas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed as the third part of his Christmas Oratorio. The Christmas cantata was first performed in 1734, in Leipzig. Bach was then Thomaskantor, responsible for music at four churches in Leipzig, a position he had assumed in 1723.
The cantata follows the nativity of Jesus as narrated in the Gospel of Luke. It covers the adoration of the shepherds. An unknown librettist added text for reflecting recitatives and arias and included stanzas from Lutheran hymns. Bach structured the cantata in 13 movements and scored it for four vocal parts and a Baroque orchestra with trumpets and timpani, flutes, oboes, and strings. Part III of the oratorio begins with a festive chorus, which is, in contrast to the other parts, repeated after the closing choral, as a conclusion of the three days of Christmas. A tenor soloist narrates the Biblical story in recitatives as the Evangelist. An alto aria is perhaps the only newly composed aria in the entire oratorio, while music for other movements is based on two cantatas that Bach had composed for the court at Dresden.
Bach led the first performances at the Nikolaikirche, the main churches of Leipzig, on 27 December 1734, during a morning service.
Background
In 18th-century Leipzig, the three Christian high holidays Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were each celebrated on three consecutive days, with different prescribed readings and related music each day. Christmas was celebrated from 25 to 27 December. For the principal churches, Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche, the director musices determined which music was to be performed during the services on Sundays and feast days.The prescribed readings for the third day of Christmas were from the Epistle to the Hebrews, Christ is higher than the angels,, and from the prologue of the Gospel of John, also called Hymn to the Word. Bach had been presenting church cantatas for the Christmas season in the Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche since his appointment as director musices in Leipzig in 1723, including cantatas for the third day of Christmas:
- In 1723, as part of his first cantata cycle: Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget, BWV 64
- In 1724, as part of his second cantata cycle: Ich freue mich in dir, BWV 133
- In 1725, as part of his third cantata cycle: Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt, BWV 151
- Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, also known as Hercules am Scheidewege, on a libretto by Picander, was performed on, the 11th birthday of the son of the elector;
- Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! BWV 214, a cantata for the elector's wife, Maria Josepha, to honour her 34th birthday on 8 December. The cantata is also known as "Glückwunschkantate zum Geburtstage der Königin", although Maria Josepha was not crowned Queen of Poland until January 1734.
Christmas season 1734–35
Bach composed his Christmas Oratorio for the Christmas season from Christmas Day on 25 December 1734 to Epiphany on 6 January 1735. Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen,, for the Third Day of Christmas in 1734, is the third of six cantatas constituting this oratorio. Its first cantata, Part I of the oratorio, Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248 I, had been performed on the first feast day, and was focused on the birth of Jesus. The second cantata, Part II of the oratorio, Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, was performed the following day, focused on the annunciation to the shepherds.Text
Departing from the usual readings for 27 December, the text of Part III deals with the adoration of the shepherds, from their itinerary to Bethlehem to their adoration in the stable, taken from the prescribed readings for the Second Day of Christmas. The story is told following the Gospel of Luke, interspersed with reflecting recitatives, arias and chorales.The identity of the librettist of the Christmas Oratorio cantatas is unknown, with Picander, who had collaborated with Bach earlier, a likely candidate. The oratorio's libretto was published in 1734. The quotations from the Bible are rendered in Martin Luther's translation. The librettist included three stanzas from Lutheran hymns: "Dies hat er alles uns getan" from Luther's "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ", "Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren" from Paul Gerhardt's "Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen", and for the conclusion "Seid froh, dieweil" from Christoph Runge's "Laßt Furcht und Pein". The Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann noted that the traditional melodies of the chorales, which are still in use, connect the music to the present time.
Bach led the first performance at the Nikolaikirche during the morning service.
Music and content
The work is structured in 13 movements. Unlike the other cantatas in the Christmas Oratorio, the opening chorus of the cantata is repeated as the closing movement. The alto aria is perhaps the only newly composed aria in the entire oratorio. The cantata features four vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets, timpani, two traversos two oboes also doubling as oboes d'amore, two violins, viola and basso continuo. The scoring is equal to Part I of the oratorio.The scoring in the following table follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are from Alfred Dürr, and use the symbol for common time. No key is shown for the recitatives, because they modulate.
Movements
24
The cantata begins with a chorus, Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, in D major and a triple meter like the opening of the first cantata of the oratorio. It is based on the closing chorus of BWV 214, Blühet, ihr Linden in Sachsen, wie Zedern. In the original, three solo voices enter one after the other, tenor, soprano, alto, which is copied in the oratorio for the choral parts.This chorus is repeated at the end of the cantata, for a conclusion of the three days of Christmas.