All those born of God

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80 (Carus 31.080/00) is one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most frequently-performed cantatas. But the well-known form of the work, with its great opening chorale chorus, represents the final stage of a multi-layered version history, beginning with the cantata Alles, was von Gott geboren BWV 80a, probably composed for Oculi Sunday (the third Sunday in Lent) 1716. As no cantatas were performed during Passiontide in Leipzig, if Bach wanted to re-use the cantata he had to rewrite it for another Sunday or feast day. Reformation Day suggests itself, as Bach had also incorporated the hymn “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” into the Oculi cantata (as an instrumental cantus firmus in the opening movement and in the final chorale). The first version of the Reformation cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80b (Carus 31.080/50) was simply expanded by the addition of chorale movements, then the movements of the Oculi cantata, slightly altered, were included in the cantata in the form known today as BWV 80.

Only the text of the Oculi cantata Alles, was von Gott geboren BWV 80a survives today. However, the early version of the cantata can easily be extrapolated from the two later versions. This reconstruction, by the renowned Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann, represents a welcome addition to the small repertoire of Bach cantatas for Passion Sundays.