J. S. Bach: Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut, BWV 117

Cantata BWV 117 lacks a conventional libretto; instead, it is a setting of the entire nine verses of a chorale text by Johann Jakob Schütz from 1673. The text required Bach to set the line “Gebt unserm Gott die Ehre!” (Give to our God due honour!) a full nine times, a task he no doubt undertook with pleasure. Indeed, the words are a German translation of the declaration of faith “Soli Deo Gloria” that Bach inscribed on his fair copy of the St Matthew Passion.