| Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt | |
|---|---|
BWV 112 | |
| Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach | |
 | |
| Occasion | Second Sunday after Easter |
| Chorale | "Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt" by Wolfgang Meuslin |
| Performed | 8 April 1731: Leipzig |
| Movements | 5 |
| Vocal | SATB choir and solo |
| Instrumental |
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Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt (The Lord is my faithful Shepherd),[1] BWV 112, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the second Sunday after Easter. Bach composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig and first performed it on 8 April 1731. It is based on the hymn by Wolfgang Meuslin, a paraphrase of Psalm 23 written in 1530, sung to a melody by Nikolaus Decius.
Bach, the Thomaskantor in Leipzig from May 1723, composed this cantata to complete his second cantata cycle of chorale cantatas, begun in 1724. He used the lyrics of the hymn unchanged, which reflect the psalm and Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Bach structured the work in five movements. The outer choral movements are a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale, both on the hymn tune. Bach set the inner stanzas as aria – recitative – aria, with music unrelated to the hymn tune. He scored the cantata for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns, two oboes d'amore, strings and continuo. Bach scholars agree that the brass instruments, normally reserved for Feast days, could come from an earlier chorale fantasia of the same melody with the text of the German Gloria.