🎶cantāmus edition 🎶 Graupner Chorale No. 𝟙𝟚𝟚𝟙: 𝕰𝖍𝖗' 𝖘𝖊𝖎 𝖉𝖊𝖒 𝖁𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖚𝖓𝖉 𝖉𝖊𝖒 𝕾𝖔𝖍𝖓 (from GWV 1123/49)

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Chorale No. 1221 of 1345
Music: Christoph Graupner (1683-1760)
First performance: 16/03/1749 (Laetare - 4th Sunday of Lent)
Verse text: "Ehr' sei dem Vater und dem Sohn"
Text source: 4th verse of "Wer Gott vertraut, hat wohl gebaut" (Verse author unknown)
Chorale melody: "O Herre Gott, dein göttlich wort" (anon. 15th Century)
7th movement of cantata "Wo Jesus wohnt ist lauter Segen" (GWV 1123/49)
Scoring: ATB, Strings and Continuo
Reissued performance with vocals powered by cantāmus (https://cantamus.app/) of this video: https://youtu.be/eeB1LLBO3LE

The 4th sunday of Lent is also known as Laetare Sunday after the first words of the old latin intonation which started the service. "Laetare" means "rejoice" and this Sunday is traditionally rather like a mini Easter celebration in the middle of lent. It is a day to relax a bit and recognise that, like the wheat grain which has to fall to the ground in order to be "reborn", so must Jesus fall in a few weeks. In 1749 Christoph Graupner got into this temporary lightening of the mood in style with his mostly rather light-hearted Cantata "Wo Jesus wohnt ist lauter Segen" (Where Jesus lives is endless blessing). It is scored for strings, continuo, and like 3 other of his 1749 Lent cantatas, ATB (presumably his soprano options were limited for some weeks due to illness or other factors). The cantata opens with a lighthearted chorus, moves to a slightly more serious duet Arioso (for Tenor and Bass) before lightening again for a showy and fast bass aria in D major. After a final recitative we come to the chorale.

The chorale text is an extended version of the lesser doxology (Glory be to the father and to the son ... ) but I am not sure of the author. The earliest record I could find of this text (google search!) is the 1677 "New and improved Marburger hymn book". Here it was used as the doxology verse at the end of the hymn "Wer Gott vertraut, hat wohl gebaut". However, the verse is missing from many other publications of this hymn. However, this particular doxology text is widespread, appearing in many hymn books of the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. As it is not in any modern hymn books it would seem that it fell into oblivion at a certain point. Here is the text:

Ehr' sei dem Vater und dem Sohn,
Und auch dem heil'gen Geiste.
Als es im Anfang war, und nun,
Der uns sein Gnade leiste.
Denn er allein,
Uns insgemein,
Mit überreichen Gaben,
An Leib und Seel,
Ohn alle fehl,
Hat gnädiglich erhaben.

Translation (with correct meter and rhyming pattern) generated by GPT-4 to prompts by me:
Praise to the Father and the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit.
As from the b'ginning, life was won,
His mercy, we inherit.
For He alone,
On heaven's throne,
With gifts abundant, freely,
In soul and frame,
Made whole, our aim,
And raised us, purely, dearly.

The tune that Graupner uses for this text is that used for the text "O Herre Gott, dein göttlich wort" (O Lord God, your divine word). It is an anonymous melody originating in the early 16th Century. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a chorale on this melody in his cantata BWV 184. As usual, Graupner takes a totally different approach to Bach, keeping the harmonies rather simpler but opting for a dazzling accompaniment. The chorale is in G major and is in triple time. Although no tempo marking is given, I interpret this movement to be rather swift. As with many Graupner chorales it is the first violins who juxtapose against the singers with a seemingly endless torrent of runs and arpeggios. On their own these figures seem a bit chaotic, but as usual with Graupner, once you put it all together it all makes sense. It should be noted that the lower strings are no less important here since they add a lot of rhythmic drive to the work.