Bach Conducts BWV 137: A Hymn Set to Glory

J.S. Bach premiered his cantata "Lobe den Herren, den machtigen Konig der Ehren" (BWV 137) in Leipzig, setting Joachim Neander's beloved hymn text without alteration across five movements. The work remains one of the most performed of Bach's 200-plus church cantatas. BWV 137 was first performed on August 19, 1725, for the twelfth Sunday after Trinity. Unlike most of Bach's chorale cantatas, which paraphrased the hymn text in the inner movements, BWV 137 preserves Neander's original words in every movement, a compositional choice that creates an unusually unified relationship between text and music throughout the work. The hymn "Lobe den Herren" had been a pillar of Lutheran worship since Neander wrote it in 1680, and its majestic melody was already deeply familiar to Bach's Leipzig congregation. Bach's setting distributes the five stanzas across five contrasting movements: an elaborate opening chorus, two arias with obbligato instruments, a duet, and a closing four-part chorale. The opening movement is particularly magnificent, setting the hymn melody in the soprano against virtuosic trumpet and oboe parts that create a festive atmosphere appropriate to the text's theme of praising God's power and mercy. The aria movements allow individual soloists to explore the hymn's personal devotional content with intimate instrumental accompaniment. The closing chorale returns the entire work to the congregational setting from which the hymn originated, completing a journey from communal worship through private meditation and back again. The cantata's popularity in modern performance owes much to the enduring familiarity of Neander's hymn, which is still sung in Lutheran churches worldwide.