Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn, BWV 119

The cantata opens with a French overture, unusual in featuring the chorus in the faster middle section. At the time of Louis XIV an overture in this style was played when the king and his entourage entered a performance. Bach's music expresses a similar respect for the authority of the town councils.[2] The mostly homophonic slow opening[2] is in the typical dotted rhythms, and shows a remarkable concerto of the trumpets versus the rest of the orchestra. The chorus appears only in the middle section, proclaiming verses from Psalm 147, "Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn" (Praise the Lord, Jerusalem).[1] It uses both fugal techniques and paired entries. The coda is a recapitulation of the first section.[9] Analysis of corrections show that Bach probably used an instrumental piece composed earlier, and that the characteristic upward run on the first word "Preise" was added later. The text from psalm 147,12–14a addresses Jerusalem, but the Leipzig congregation understood it as their city.[2]

A secco recitative introduces the topic, "Gesegnet Land, glückselge Stadt" (Blessed land, fortunate city):[1] a town is blessed if God reigns in it.[9]

The oboes da caccia present a dotted-rhythm ritornello to introduce the tenor aria. The vocal entry is before the ritornello cadence, "Wohl dir, du Volk der Linden" (Good fortune, you people of the lindens),[1] a reference to Leipzig sometimes being called Lindenstadt.[9]

The bass recitative, "So herrlich stehst du, liebe Stadt!" (So gloriously you stand, dear city!),[1] is introduced and concluded with a fanfare-like trumpet and timpani line,[9] further wind instruments, recorders and oboes da caccia add colour to the middle section, in an unusual movement for the Leipzig congregation.[2]

The alto aria, "Die Obrigkeit ist Gottes Gabe" (Authority is God's gift),[1] is accompanied by two obbligato recorders in unison.[2] It is the only minor-mode movement of the cantata. The obbligato presents high repeated notes beginning midway through the ritornello theme, which recurs as episodes and at the conclusion of the movement.[9] The movement is, in effect, a trio sonata.[10]

A soprano recitative, "Nun! Wir ekennen es und bringen dir" (Now! we acknowledge it and bring to You),[1] expresses thanks for God's gift and acknowledgement of the burden on the people serving as town council, those who did it the last year and those who succeed.[9]

A choral movement confirms "Der Herr hat Guts an uns getan" (The Lord has done good things for us).[1] The movement is structured like a da capo aria, with a fugue in the opening and repeat, while the contrasting middle section is mostly homophonic.[2] A long ritornello theme features an "imperious" trumpet melody, which is played four times during the movement. The voices then enter from the lowest to the highest, with the fugal section based on the first phrase of Nun danket alle Gott.[9] Additional instruments then lead to a climax.[2] In the middle section motifs from the ritornello are played "above and between" the voices.[2] One fanfare motif appears also in Bach's first Brandenburg Concerto and would later be used in the bass aria Großer Herr und starker König in the Christmas Oratorio. The Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann assumes, reflecting its secular character as a hunting signal and fanfare, that the movement is derived from an earlier homage cantata.[2]

A very short alto recitative, "Zuletzt! Da du uns, Herr, zu deinem Volk gesetzt" (Finally! Since You have established us as Your people),[1] is harmonically "adventurous".[9]

The cantata ends with the ninth stanza from Luther's German Te Deum, "Hilf deinem Volk, Herr Jesu Christ" (Help Your people, Lord Jesus Christ),[1] a prayer for further help and preservation.[2] It is a four-part setting "with the subtlest touches of flamboyance" in a chorale.[9] No individual parts for the cantata have survived; and the score provides only the four-part setting without mentioning which instruments would play with which voice. Hofmann imagines that there might have been additional parts for trumpets and timpani for an ending to match the opening of the cantata.[2]