Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille (BWV 120) was probably written for the installation of a new City Council in 1728 or 1729, and is Bach’s third Leipzig civic cantata (after BWV 119 and 193). The arrangement of the text - quotations from the Psalms, original poetry and finally verses from Luther’s German translation of the Te Deum - is similar to that of the earlier works; but the music is entirely different. Instead of an opening chorus there is, as befits the words, a "quiet" alto aria in which the Lord’s praises are confined to the coloratura of the solo voice; the quietness is captured in the intimate, remarkably modern ritornello and accompaniment, which verges on the galant - it may have been borrowed from the slow movement of a lost solo concerto written while Bach was at Cöthen. Loud rejoicing (trumpets and timpani) only enters the picture with the beginning of the choral movement, which follows the aria without a recitative. This splendid piece also resembles instrumental works of the Cöthen period; the main section has found its way, greatly modified, into the Credo of the Mass in B minor- "Et expecto resurrectionem." A short recitative extols the "City of Lime Trees” (Leipzig), thereby moving from the general to the particular; it is followed by a soprano aria invoking blessings and happiness upon the Council. Surely not by chance, the style resembles that of the first movement: presumably the aria is borrowed from a lost model which Bach had already adapted for the third movement of his violin sonata BWV 1019a. A solemn, accompanied recitative, much weightier than the earlier one, introduces the final chorale, the simplicity of which produces a far less programmatic effect in this work of intimate, almost chamber music proportions and understated jubilation than in Cantata No. 119.
Christum wir sollen loben schon (BWV 121), written for the Second Day of Christmas 1724, is a chorale cantata based on Luther's paraphrase of the hymn ”A solis ortus cardine.” It is cast in the customary form of the early chorale cantatas: the first and last stanzas are unchanged and set to the chorale tune; the inner stanzas are freely paraphrased and set as recitatives and arias without making use of the hymn tune. But Bach has given a highly unusual twist to the conventional format by drawing from musical consequences the combination of the fairly archaic hymn tune with the thought processes inherent in the text, shifting from the marvel of Christ's birth to Man, who contemplates and celebrates that marvel. The opening chorus is as archaic as the melody on which it is built is old: a chorale motet in strict style, continuo bass and instruments playing colla parte; the brass - cornett and three trombones - provide an enhanced archaic timbre while the uncertain tonality, starting in E minor and ending in F-sharp minor reflects the modal ambivalence of the melody. The tenor aria immediately following is in B minor, thus facilitating the transition to the D major of the ensuing recitative, this being the first of the pieces in major, presumably representing the human sphere, as opposed to the divine sphere of the minor mode for Christ’s birth. The text of the aria, too, accords pride of place to the miracle (”begreife nicht, nein, nein, bewundre nur" - nor understand, but only wonder show); by contrast its dance-like style foreshadows the second main movement of the cantata, the bass aria. At the end of the recitative which links these two pieces, there is a sublime image of the marvel of God drawing near to Man: at the words ”um zu den Menschen sich mit wundervoller Art zu kehren” (and ever keep alive his glory) the harmony “turns” from C sharp major to C major. This is the key of the bass aria which depicts, at great length, ”Johannis freudenvolles Springen” (Then John, in joyful welcome springing) in a remarkablz modern sounding form of concerto movement. The short recitative which introrluces the final chorale is an extremely forceful piece, almost an arioso; it is at first straightforward, but the last phrase, "in Ewigkeit” (in all eternitz), seemingly reaches out to all eternity by virtue of an extended contrapuntal melisma which forges the stylistic link back to the motet-like character of the opening chorus.
Das neugeborne Kindelein (BWV 122) for the First Sunday after Christmas 1724 is another chorale cantata, perfectly normal in form but with very unusual music. Apart from the outer stanzas which are unchanged, the text is less a paraphrase than an extension of the hymn: stanza 2 is paraphrased, extended and divided between an aria and a recitative; stanza 3 is unchanged, but with an addition; the recitative before the final chorale is freely added, with a loose intellectual connection to the hymn. The introductory chorus is a relatively brief elaboration of the hymn tune (G minor-major); the strangely muted tone, tender rather than festive, is highlighted by the light and homogeneous scoring for the orchestra (only oboes playing colla parte and strings). The whole of the bass aria, in the sombre key of C minor, with the tortured chromaticism of its melodic structure, derives from the opening lines ”O Menschen, die ihr täglich sündigt" (O Mortals, ye who face damnation); even ”der Engel Freude” and "ihr jubilierendes Geschrei” (Angels all rejoice) in the middle section are so set as to achieve almost the opposite effect. Not until the following accompanied recitative is reached does the mood turn to rejoicing at the divine act of salvation: three recorders play the hymn tune line by line, seemingly depicting the wordless joy of the choirs of angels - an old theological tradition - on which the ecstatic soprano reports in her interjections. In the trio the chorale, representing the other world, and humanity are completely interwoven: the alto sings the third hymn stanza, supported by a continuo siciliano, while the soprano and tenor sing an added text to a different tune, mostly in imitation. In the last line of the trope text "Gott ist mit uns und wird uns schützen” (For God will help that we evade him) all three voices join together in an "Abgesang” not related to the hymn tune, thus absorbing the transcendental into the immanent. A lively and expressive accompanied recitative introduces the final chorale, a very simple four-part setting, almost conceived as a dancing song.
Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen (BWV 123), written for Epiphany Sunday, 1725, is yet another chorale cantata of the second Leipzig cycle. The suggestion of tender “courtly love” for Jesus which imbues the baroque text primarily affects the setting of the opening chorus, which is not so much addressed to the ”Herzog der Frommen” (Lord of the Faithful) as to ”Liebster Immanuel” (Dearest Immanuel): not by chance is this first phrase of the chorale, continually repeated and sequentially treated, chosen to serve as the motif of an orchestral ritornello which is characterised by the timbre of flutes and oboes as much as by the rhythm, which is almost that of a gigue; neither is it by chance that the choral writing reaches the peak of intensity in the yearning exclamations of "komm nur bald" (come Thou soon) at the end of the first Stollen. The tenor aria in F sharp minor corresponding to the B minor of the first chorus and developed from the image of the ”harte Kreuzesreise” (trouble, toil and tribulation) is a highly complicated quartet movement for two oboes d’amore, voice and continuo bass, full of melodic and harmonic clashes. Even more intense is the middle section, which is in itself full of contrasts: the vivid description of the ”tobende Ungewitter” (thunder's bluster) is abruptly followed by a vision of "Heil und Licht” (shines the light) in C sharp major/minor. The somewhat less expressive bass aria in D major is on a smaller scale; its character is determined by the text of the middle section (”Jesus bleibet mir allezeit” - Jesus bides with me forevermore) rather then by the ”betrubte Einsamkeit” (Ionely, sad or sore) of the main part, which only in passing produces harmonic darkening. The very simple final chorale departs frorn the original stanza by repeating the last line piano, thereby interpreting most movingly the words "bis man mich einstens legt in’s Grab hinein” (”Til in the grave at last one day I lie).