Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben, BWV 77
| Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben | |
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| BWV 77 | |
| Church cantata by J. S. Bach | |
Autograph manuscript of opening chorus of BWV 77
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| Occasion | 13th Sunday after Trinity |
| Performed | 22 August 1723: Leipzig |
| Movements | 6 |
| Cantata text | Johann Oswald Knauer |
| Bible text | |
| Chorale |
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| Vocal | SATB choir and solo |
| Instrumental |
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Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben (You shall love God, your Lord),BWV 77, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the thirteenth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 22 August 1723.
Bach composed the cantata in his first year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, where he had begun a first annual cycle of cantatas for the occasions of the liturgical year on the first Sunday after Trinity with Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75. The cantata text, written by Johann Oswald Knauer, is focused on the prescribed reading for the Sunday, the parable of the Good Samaritan containing the Great Commandment, which is used as the text of the first movement. A pair of recitative and aria deals with the love of God, while a symmetrical pair deals with the love of the neighbour. The text of the closing chorale is lost.
Bach scored the cantata for four vocal parts, a four-part choir, tromba da tirarsi, two oboes, strings and continuo. In the first movement Bach uses an instrumental quotation of Luther's hymn on the ten commandments, "Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot" (These are the holy ten commandments), played by the trumpet in canon with the continuo.
Bach wrote the cantata in 1723 in his first year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig for the 13th Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul's teaching on law and promise (), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the Good Samaritan (). The cantata text was written by Johann Oswald Knauer and appeared in Gotha in 1720 in Gott-geheiligtes Singen und Spielen (Holy singing and playing to God). The text relates closely to the readings, even to the situation in which the parable was told, referring to the question of a lawyer what needs to be done to achieve eternal life. The answer, which the lawyer had to give himself, was the commandment to love God and your neighbour. This, the Great Commandment, is the text of the first movement. Accordingly, the following text is divided in two parts, one recitative and aria dealing with the love of God, and a symmetrical part handling the love of the neighbour.
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