Bach composed Nun danket alle Gott as a chorale cantata for Trinity, setting the unmodified text of the three stanzas of Martin Rinckart's hymn of thanksgiving "Nun danket alle Gott".[1][2] It was first performed on 4 June 1730.[1][3]Alfred Dürr assumed that it could have been written for a wedding.[4] It has also been regarded as a cantata for Reformation Day.[5]
Duet aria (soprano and bass): Der ewig reiche Gott
Chorus: Lob, Ehr und Preis sei Gott
Music
The cantata begins with a chorale fantasia.[4] Unusually, the ritornello is not immediately followed by the chorale melody, but by a three-part or even four-part imitative preparation. The first phrase of the chorale melody appears in the soprano over further imitation in the lower voices and by staccato chords in the accompaniment.[4][8] The other lines of the chorale are handled similarly.[4]
The duet aria is introduced by a ritornello "with a double hiatus suggestive of modesty or diffidence". The movement is structurally like a da capo aria but lacks a contrasting middle section.[8]
Unusually, the work ends not with a closing chorale, but with another chorale fantasia[4] with a "rollicking gigue melody". Again, the soprano carries the chorale melody.[8] As in the first movement, the lower voices sing imitative lines.[4]
