We Offer Thanks and Praise for Two Trumpets & Organ

We Offer Thanks and Praise (Wir danken und preisen) is from J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 134, Ein Herz, das Seinein Jesum lebend weiss (“A heart which Jesus clearly knows”) written for Easter Tuesday, April 11, 1724, in Leipzig. This cantata is for alto and tenor soloists, four-part choir, two oboes, strings with solo violin, and continuo. We offer Thanks and Praise is the fourth movement, scored as a duet for alto and tenor, with violin, strings and continuo in the original key of E-flat Major. This transcription uses two trumpets (or two treble instruments in C) for the alto and tenor vocal parts, and the organ combines the string and continuo parts with occasional added melodic material based on the original for an imitative effect. The slurs are standardized in the organ score and added to the trumpet parts for phrasing and clarity.