Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 100

History and text#

This work is a late chorale cantata for an unspecified occasion. Bach likely composed and first performed it in Leipzig around 1734. The cantata is based on the hymn "" (1674) by Samuel Rodigast. Bach used the text unchanged, while in most of his earlier chorale cantatas the inner stanzas were paraphrased by a contemporary librettist. Bach performed the cantata again in 1737 and 1742.

Scoring and structure#

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. The first and last are set for choir as a chorale fantasia and a closing chorale. They frame four arias, the first one being a duet. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble: two horns (Co), timpani (Ti), flauto traverso (Ft), oboe d’amore (Oa), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), cello (Vc), violone (Vo) and basso continuo (Bc). The duration of the cantata is given as around 25 minutes. In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from the book by Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbols for common time () and alla breve (). The instruments are shown separately for winds and strings, while the continuo, playing throughout, is not shown. As all stanzas begin with “”, the second lines of the movements are shown.

Music#

Only the first and last movements use the chorale melody, while the inner movements adopt “carefully graduated sound colors”. The movement opens with a presentation of two instrumental themes, which repeat when the soprano enters with the chorale melody. The instrumental lines are complex compared to the vocal part. The alto and tenor duet, according to Ludwig Finscher, reflects the “Italian chamber duet (Steffani, Handel) on account of the motet-style arrangement of the text and the imitatory interweaving of the vocal parts”. The “jaunty” bass aria is accompanied by “lilting” syncopated strings.

Recordings#

• Kantorei St. Jacobi Hamburg / Hamburger Kammerorchester, Heinz Wunderlich. J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 100 & BWV 175. Soli Deo Gloria, 1961.
• Münchener Bach-Chor / Münchener Bach-Orchester, Karl Richter. Bach Cantatas Vol. 4 – Sundays after Trinity I. Archiv Produktion, 1977.
• Holland Boys Choir / Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink. Bach Edition Vol. 15 – Cantatas Vol. 8. Brilliant Classics, 2000.
• Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner. Bach Cantatas Vol. 8. Soli Deo Gloria, 2000.
• Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Ton Koopman. J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 21. Antoine Marchand, 2003.
• Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki. J. S. Bach - Cantatas, Vol.54 (BWV 100, 14, 197, 197a). BIS, 2013.

External links#

• Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 100: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)
• BWV 100 Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan: English translation, University of Vermont