(Click on picture for larger image)
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Today… An All-Time Favorite
One of Bach’s cantatas for Trinity 12 takes a different form. Cantata BWV 137 creates variations on the five verses of Joachim Neander’s great hymn,“Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren,” which English hymn singers know as, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.”
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This is one of my favorite hymns, so it is a special delight to meditate on Bach’s rendition. The overall impression of the piece is like that of a small stream that grows in depth and fullness as it moves toward the sea. The melody becomes more and more prominent as the cantata unfolds, until the chorale of the final verse, where the hymn is heard in all its glory.
Praise the Lord, who surely blesses your condition,
who from heaven rains down streams of love;
consider this,
what the Almighty can do,
who comes to meet you with love!
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Photo by Hop Phan at Flickr. Creative Commons License
The Internet Monk Archives 
One of my icons. Very sad.
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What?! No! Crud.
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RIP, Walter Becker
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this post is like a cool cup of water after a troubled week . . . . . thank you, Chaplain Mike
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Refreshing! I enjoy listening to that King’s College album. Thank you for this posting.
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That photo is amazing!
And the words of the hymn…a much better declaration than the Nashville Statement.
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I love the Kings College choir – have listened to various of their youtube recordings over and over. So many great hymns that focus one’s attention on the living God.
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Thank you, CM
I needed a Bach fix!
Beautiful.
Such a hymn of praise.
Susan
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