Bach Choir of Bethlehem

Motet BWV 230 "Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden"

Bach wrote six surviving complete motets. Bach’s first biographer, Forkel, refers to "many single- and double-choir motets," implying that there were many others, though only 6 complete ones and a few scattered movements survive today. Among these, there is some doubt for Bach scholars as to whether or not "Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden" is actually by Bach. This work was first published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1821, rather early as publication of Bach’s works go, too early to have been part of the Mendelssohn revival; the publisher claimed that the manuscript was in Bach’s hand. Still, it could have been a copy made by Bach of another unknown work. The fact that the vocal writing is unusually virtuosic for the choral parts, even as Bach goes, has lead Bach scholars to claim that the work is really more instrumental in character, and thus not really Bach-like. This is particularly true of the many leaping passages–even when the voice leaps through a triad, this is not as idiomatic for a voice as it is for any instrument; the voice prefers stepwise writing. Lacking any indisputable evidence either way, the work will continue to be published, recorded, and performed as a work of J.S. Bach.

"Lobet den Herrn" is one of only two motets by Bach in which the entire text comes from the Bible, in this case, Psalm 117. Despite the more than 6 minutes of music, only the first two verses of the Psalm are set.

The work is scored for SATB choir and continuo. The norm for Bach’s motets is for a continuo group to perform as support for the choral parts, even where continuo is not explicitly indicated in the score. In the case of "Lobet den Herrn," however, the continuo part is written separately in the score, and often independent of the other parts. This has led some scholars to believe that "Lobet den Herrn" may actually be a part of a larger Bach work, perhaps a cantata. While there are only two clear divisions to the motet in the score, there are other subdivisions indicated by changes in text, texture and character.

Part I	"Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden"
	Fugue, with subject entering voices in SATB order; subject based on an arpeggiated figure.
	Continuo is independent until the bass voices enter, though thereafter it usually doubles the basses of the choir.
	4/4 meter (actually 4/2)
	C major primarily (F, G, am, em tonicized)
Part 2	"und preiset ihn, alle Völker"
	New fugue, with new subject, an undulating descending scale passage; order in which the subject enters is again SATB
	No change in meter or tempo
	C major (G, F, e minor, a minor also tonicized)
	Texture initially lightens, because when the new fugue starts, the texture is reduced to a single voice, then gradually builds again
	Continuo is entirely independent until the bass voices enter, then it is mostly similar to the bass vocal line
	Fugue contains some very close stretto
Part 3	"Denn seine Gnade und Wahrheit waltet über uns"
	Clear cadence delineates this section from the preceding one
	Begins with chordal section, after so much fugal and polyphonic writing. Develops into women vs. men texture, with the women singing more sustained music over moving parallel lines in the tenors and basses. Later, more independence of parts develops
	Tempo feels slower, even if the beat does not actually change, because there is far less activity than in the 3 preceding sections
	Clear phrases, delineated by obvious cadences, rather than the numerous phrase elisions in the fugal sections
	Tonality not immediately established, but goes through G, am, dm–overall minor feel
	Numerous suspensions contribute to making this section distinct from the others
Part 4	"seine Gnade und Wahrheit waltet über uns in Ewigkeit"
	Really building to a climax, and the end of the Psalm text
	Long held notes in reference to "Ewigkeit" (forever) are the main feature here
	Imitative texture, though strictly speaking, not a fugue
	Continuo part again begins independently, until the bass voice joins; later similar to bass voices, though often rhythmically simpler, sometimes an octave lower
Part 5	"Alleluja"
	_
	New fugue, because of the meter and text, but similar to the second fugue because of the undulating eighth-note figure
	C major, with G, em
	Continuo part mostly supports and reinforces the voices

Compared to the other motets, there is little written about "Lobet den Herrn" in the Bach literature. This is likely because of the somewhat doubtful authorship of the work. As a result, scholars are unable to provide a likely date of composition or a performance history during Bach’s lifetime.