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BACH – Hymn Chorale ‘Nun Danket Alle Gott’ (Now thank we all, our God) – FOUR CELLOS

Other Identification:
“Now thank we all our God” is a popular Christian hymn. It is a translation from the German “Nun danket alle Gott”, written in about 1636 by Martin Rinkart. The melody is attributed to Johann Crüger, who wrote it c. 1647.
It is used in J.S. Bach’s cantatas, such as BWV 79, 192, harmonized for four voices in BWV 252, 386 and set in a choral prelude in BWV 657. The now-standard harmonisation was devised by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840 when he adopted the hymn, sung in the now-standard key of F major and with its original German lyrics, as the chorale to his Lobgesang or Hymn of Praise (also known as his Symphony No. 2). The late-Romantic German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert used it in his Marche Triomphale. John Rutter composed ‘Now thank we all our God for choir and brass in 1974’.
It is often used in Christian weddings and other joyous religious ceremonies, and in Germany it is sung on occasions of national thanksgiving.

Movements or sections:
Hymn Chorale

Instrumentation:
QUARTET OF FOUR CELLOS
Arranged by David Johnstone

1 PDF, with the individual parts
(no score)

Approximate difficulty:
Cellos 1 and 2: medium to difficult
Cellos 3 and 4: medium

In the four cello version, Cello I is actually the easiest musically of the four as it has the chorale melody, and is often silent altogether. Parts II and III are much more interesting, at least taking in terms of cello playing. Cello IV provides a solid bass line.

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