Cantata 190 is Bach’s first New Year’s cantata in Leipzig, composed for January 1st, 1724. Unfortunately, it has not survived intact, probably due to Bach himself reusing the music for a later occasion around 1730. For the first two movements, all we have are voice and violin parts. Scholars and musicians have attempted to reconstruct the missing material several times, in some cases with great results.
The cantata’s libretto, by an unknown poet, is centered around praising God, giving thanks for the year that’s ending and praying for blessings in the times ahead. In doing so, it incorporates only tangential references to the Gospel of the day (Luke 2:21), which refers to the name of Jesus: the last line of movement 4 says “Thus I begin this year in Jesus’ name“, and movement 5 repeats “Jesus” to start each line. The opening chorus incorporates verses from Psalms 149 and 150, and from the German Te Deum (Luther, 1529), which also appear in movement 2. The final chorale comes from a New Year hymn by Johannes Herman of 1593.
Even though we’re missing most of the opening movement, the cover page of the extant Violin I part contains a note listing how the cantata was orchestrated: 3 trumpets and timpani, 3 oboes, bassoon, strings, and continuo, plus a four-part choir. The inner movements show that three solo voices were called for (alto, tenor and bass).
The cues at our disposal tell us that the initial movement was a majestic and grandiose choral piece that must have surely stunned the Leipzig congregations. After 24 bars of instrumental ritornello, which reconstructors have to rebuild taking cues from the two violin parts and voice lines, the choir comes in with text that is a combination of Psalms 149 and 150, set to phrases of imitative, festive motifs alternating with homophonic sections for emphasis. After this initial section, the choir delivers the first line of the German Te Deum in unison, leading to a choral fugue on another segment of text from the Psalms. Then a second line from the German Te Deum follows, closing with an abbreviated version of the opening music for the final “Hallelujah”.
The German Te Deum is used as a link into the second movement. Here, the choir delivers the same two lines of the hymn in four-part harmony two times, between segments of recitative by the bass, tenor and alto giving thanks. Reconstructors all assume that this movement was accompanied by just strings and continuo, which implies that only the continuo line for the recitative sections has to be recreated.
A song of praise follows for the alto accompanied by strings and continuo. It’s set in triple movement with dance-like motifs and frequent syncopations giving it a festive character. Scholars suspect that this music could be parodied from a secular piece, but no evidence has been found so far.
Next is a recitative for bass, which turns into arioso towards the end to emphasize the reference to Jesus’ name, per the Gospel. This connection is further strengthened in the following aria / duet, for the tenor and bass. Its text uses the rhetorical device known as “anaphora”, in which the same expression (in this case “Jesus”) is repeated in every line for emphasis. The duet is accompanied by continuo and an undesignated solo instrument, for which a part was also lost. Most performers assume that it was a violin.
The last recitative, accompanied by strings, goes to the tenor, requesting blessings in the new year for a long list of recipients – the Saxon ruler (“His anointed”) and his family (“stem and branches”), the church, school and teachers, authorities, the city and its households.
Stanza 7 of Herman’s hymn closes the cantata, returning to the initial bright and festive key of D major. The strings and oboes double the voices, and the trumpet choir punctuates each line with a fanfare.
