Bach's Cantata No. 69 "Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele" (Praise the Lord, my Soul) (BWV 69) is an adaptation and expansion of "Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele" (BWV 69a). The earlier work was premiered in 1723 and was used as part of the church service for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. The later work was premiered in 1730 and was used for the election of a new town council. Both versions were scored for large forces, including soprano, tenor, alto, and bass soloists plus chorus and a huge and colorful orchestra consisting of trumpets, tympani, three oboes, doubling oboe da caccia and oboe d'amore, recorder, strings, and basso continuo. Both versions of "Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele" were in six movements and both start with the same monumental and magnificent opening choral-orchestral movement. The later version follows this with an expanded and more expressive secco recitative for soprano soloist and continuo; a transposed, re-written, and re-scored da capo aria for violin, oboe, and alto soloists and continuo; a greatly enlarged and more dramatic recitative for tenor soloist and continuo, strings, and continuo; the same bucolic aria for bass soloist, strings, virtuosic oboe d'amore, and continuo; and concludes with a harmonization of a chorale by Martin Luther from 1524 for chorus and full orchestra colla parte.

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