Bach composed the work in Leipzig for Christmas Day in 1728 or 1729. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Epistle of Titus, "God's mercy appeared" (Titus 2:11–14) or from Isaiah, "Unto us a child is born" (Isaiah 9:2–7), and from the Gospel of Luke, the Nativity, Annunciation to the shepherds and the angels' song (Luke 2:1–14). The text of the cantata is by Picander. The chorale is from the 1697 hymn "Ich freue mich in dir" by Caspar Ziegler. Bach later revised the piece into Gott ist unsre Zuversicht, BWV 197.2.
| Librettist | Lukas 2:14 (No.1) Christian Friedrich Henrici (1700-1764) [as Picander] (Nos.2-6) Caspar Ziegler (1621-1690) (No.7) |
| Date of composition | 1728 (re-used in BWV 197; partly lost) |
| Premiered | 1728, December 25th in Leipzig, Germany |
| First published | 1894 (BGA) |
| Dedicated to | Christmas Day |
| Type | Sacred Cantata |
| Tonality | D Major |
| Catalogue | BWV 197a |
| Instruments |
2x
Voice
Chorus/Choir Orchestra |
| Links | |
| Autotranslations beta |
Jean-Sébastien Bach: Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe en ré majeur, BWV 197a Johann Sebastian Bach: Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe in re maggiore, BWV 197a Johann Sebastian Bach: Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe D-dur, BWV 197a |