Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit (Were God not with us at this time), BWV 14,[a] is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1735 for the fourth Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it on 30 January 1735. The text is based on the hymn by Martin Luther, published in 1524.

Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for the fourth Sunday after Epiphany. A fourth Sunday after Epiphany is rare and occurs only in years with a late date of Easter, and Bach had composed only one other cantata for this occasion, Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen? BWV 81. In 1725, when Bach had composed his annual cycle of chorale cantatas, there was no fourth Sunday after Epiphany. In 1735, shortly after the first performance of his Christmas Oratorio, he seems to have desired to fill this void and complete his cycle of chorale cantatas. For Christoph Wolff it is evident that Bach performed the second cycle in 1735, performing the new cantata between Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, BWV 111, for the third Sunday after Epiphany and Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn, BWV 92, for Septuagesima.

The chorale is sung to the tune of "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält", which Bach had treated to a chorale cantata, Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 178. The opening chorus is an unusual composition that does not follow the scheme of instrumental ritornellos with a cantus firmus line by line sung by the soprano in long notes. In a setting resembling a motet, the strings play colla parte with the voices, and each line of the chorale is prepared by a complex four-part counter-fugue, in which the first entrance of a theme is answered in its inversion. After preparing entrances, the chorale melody is not sung but played by the horn and the oboes in long notes, creating a five-part composition, which is unique in Bach's cantata movements. The only other piece of similar complexity, also giving the cantus firmus to the instruments, is the opening chorus of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80, but it is not conceived as a counter-fugue.

In the first aria, the soprano is accompanied by the strings and the horn, which contrasts the text's "stark" (strong) and "schwach" (weak) in combination with the voice. The horn supports the voice "in its highest register (referred to in the autograph part as Corne. par force and tromba)". In the central recitative, the dangers of the flooding waters are illustrated in fast passages of the continuo on words such us "Wut" ("fury"), "Flut" ("flood") and "überschwemmet" ("inundate"), making it almost an arioso. Similar word painting occurs in the middle section of the bass aria, picturing "Wellen" (waves) in octave leaps and fast downward scales. The closing chorale is a four-part setting with "contrapuntally animated bass and middle voices", similar to the chorales of the Christmas Oratorio, first performed a few weeks before. Wolff summarizes the maturity of Bach's late church cantatas caused by "the experience accumulated by the composer between 1723 and 1729, which lends the later cantatas an especial ripe character".

The cantata in five movements is intimately scored for three vocal soloists (soprano, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, corno da caccia, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%A4r_Gott_nicht_mit_ uns_diese_Zeit,_BWV_14).

I created this arrangement of the opening Chorus: "Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit" (Were God not with us at this time) for Bb Trumpet & Strings (2 Violins, Viola, Cello & Bass).