Christum wir sollen loben schon (We should already be praising Christ), BWV 121, is a church cantata

Bach cantata

Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....

 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. He composed the chorale cantata

Chorale cantata

In music, a chorale cantata is a sacred composition for voices and instruments, principally from the German Baroque era, in which the organizing principle is the words and music to a chorale. Usually a chorale cantata is in multiple movements or parts. Most chorale cantatas were written between...

 in Leipzig for the Second Day of Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 and first performed it on 26 December 1724.

History and words

The prescribed readings for the feast day were , God's mercy appeared in Christ, and , the shepherds at the manger. The work's theme is the wonder of the birth of God's only son to a virgin and Jesus' "[taking] on poverty and the form of a servant". Unlike some other Bach cantatas for 26 December, Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....

 and his feast day do not feature. St. Stephen and Christmas were celebrated in Leipzig in alternate years.

The source for the melody is Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's setting of the hymn Christum wir sollen loben schon, a German translation of A solis ortus cardine

A solis ortus cardine

A solis ortus cardine is a Latin poem by Coelius Sedulius , narrating Christ's life from His birth to His resurrection. Its 23 verses each begin with a consecutive letter of the alphabet, making the poem an Abecedarius...

) - the opening chorus is its first verse and the closing chorale is its eighth verse, both unchanged. The hymn's other verses are freely adapted as madrigal

Madrigal (music)

A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....

ian recitative

Recitative

Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...

s and aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

s, with an adaptation of the second verse sung by a tenor and one of the fifth verse sung by a bass. The third and fourth verses of the hymn are adapted as alto recitative and the sixth and seventh verses as soprano recitative.

Movements

1. Choral motet, on the quasi-church mode
   Musical mode
   In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
   
    Cantus firmus
   Cantus firmus
   In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
   
   , with an archaic effect underscored by a full four-part bass accompaniment.
2. Recitative, as a modern da capo aria
   Da capo aria
   The da capo aria is a musical form, which was prevalent in the Baroque era. It is sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of instruments, often a small orchestra. The da capo aria is very common in the musical genres of opera and oratorio...
   
   , in which the symmetrical scheme is broken up by irregular periodising and harmonization, referring to the irregular nature of Christ's birth
3. Recitative, with surprising sweep through a harmony unique in Bach's work leading to the final word kehren, suggesting God's birth in human form is as outrageous as this harmonic bend.
4. Bass aria, almost dance-like, playing with the harmony and portraying jumps, reflecting the movement's text's references to John the Baptist
   John the Baptist
   John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
   
   's jumping in his mother's womb during the Visitation of Mary
5. Recitative
6. Chorale, with the finally doxology in a four-part setting, illuminating the early-church melody in a modern major-minor tonality.

External links

• Cantata BWV 121 Christum wir sollen loben schon on the bach cantatas website
• German text and English translation, Emmanuel Music
  Emmanuel Music
  Emmanuel Music is a Boston-based collective group of singers and instrumentalists founded in 1970 by Craig Smith. It was created specifically to perform the complete cycle of over 200 sacred cantatas of J.S. Bach in the liturgical setting for which they were intended, an endeavor twice completed...
  
  
• Christum wir sollen loben schon on the Bach website
• BWV 121 Christum wir sollen loben schon text, structure, instrumentation, University of Alberta
  University of Alberta
  The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
  
  
• BWV 121 Christum wir sollen loben schon English text, University of Vermont
  University of Vermont
  The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...