Composed for the Third Sunday after Epiphany, which fell on January 21, 1725, Bach's Cantata No. 111 "Was mein Gott will, das, g'scheh allzeit" (What my God wills, will happen always) (BWV 111) sets an anonymous text based on the Gospel According to Matthew 8, 1-13 and is based on the chorale by Albrecht von Brandenburg in its outer movements. Like most of Bach's cantatas, the text of "Was mein Gott will, das, g'scheh allzeit" is characteristically gloomy and is summed up in the fifth movement's recitative: "Therefore when death at the end tears the spirit violently from the body, take it, O God, into thy fatherly keeping!" The cantata is scored for bass, alto, tenor and soprano soloists, chorus, a pair of oboes, strings, and basso continuo. "Was mein Gott will, das, g'scheh allzeit" is in austere A minor with its first, fifth, and sixth movements in the tonic; its second movement in the minor dominant of E minor; its third movement in B minor; and its fourth movement in G major. The first movement is a typical chorale setting of Brandenburg's chorale, with the soprano intoning the hymn while the lower voices sing in imitation and the full orchestra elaborates a fantasia based on its motifs. The second movement is a grim aria for bass soloist and continuo. The third movement is a dour secco recitative for alto soloist and continuo and the fourth is a sweetly lilting triple-time duet aria for alto and tenor soloists accompanied by strings and continuo. The fifth movement begins as a dismal secco reiterative for alto soloist, oboes, and continuo that becomes a despairing Adagio for flowing oboes above a gently pulsing descending continuo. "Was mein Gott will, das, g'scheh allzeit" concludes with a severe harmonization of Brandenburg's chorale for the chorus and orchestra.

© All Music Guide