"Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt"
("Just like the rain and snow falling from the sky"
(BWV 18), is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was composed for Sexagesima Sunday, based on text by
Erdmann Neumeister written in 1711 for the Eisenach
court, which cites Isaiah and Psalm 118.
The work falls relatively early in Bach's chronology of
cantata compositions — it was possibly composed for
24 February 1715, but more probably a year or two
earlier. The prescribe...(+)
"Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt"
("Just like the rain and snow falling from the sky"
(BWV 18), is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was composed for Sexagesima Sunday, based on text by
Erdmann Neumeister written in 1711 for the Eisenach
court, which cites Isaiah and Psalm 118.
The work falls relatively early in Bach's chronology of
cantata compositions — it was possibly composed for
24 February 1715, but more probably a year or two
earlier. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were
taken from the Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
"God's power is mighty in the week" (2 Corinthians
11:19–12:9), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable
of the Sower (Luke 8:4–15). The work is scored for an
SATB choir, two recorders, a bassoon, violas I-IV,
violoncello and continuo. It can be noted that the
instrumentation is similar to Brandenburg Concerto
n°6, which also omits violins. Furthermore, the second
(Leipzig) version of this cantata only uses the middle
and low strings, without the recorders.
this arrangement is of the sinfonia and the form is
that of a flexible chaconne, broken into episodes, in a
da capo form.
Although originally written for SATB choir & period
instruments, I created this arrangement for Flute Trio
(Piccolo, Flute & Alto Flute).
PARTITION