Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt (English: "Just like the rain and snow falling from the sky" (the German "Himmel" also means heaven)), BWV 18 is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was composed for Sexagesima Sunday, based on text by Erdmann Neumeister written in 1711 for the Eisenach court, which cites Isaiah and Psalm 118.

The work falls relatively early in Bach's chronology of cantata compositions — it was possibly composed for 24 February 1715, but more probably a year or two earlier. The work is scored for an SATB choir, two recorders, a bassoon, violas I-IV, violoncello and continuo. It can be noted that the instrumentation is similar to Brandenburg Concerto n°6, which also omits violins. Furthermore, the second (Leipzig) version of this cantata only uses the middle and low strings, without the recorders.

Movements
It is divided into 5 parts (see Wikisource for text):

1. Sinfonia,

Composed in 6/4 time in G-minor. Like several of Bach's cantatas — especially the earlier ones — this work begins with an instrumental sinfonia. The form is that of a flexible chaconne, broken into episodes, in a da capo form.

1. Recitativo (Bass): Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt
2. Recitativo & Chorale (Litany) (Soprano, Tenor, Bass, Chorus): Mein Gott, hier wird mein Herze sein
3. Aria (Soprano): Mein Seelenschatz ist Gottes Wort
4. Chorale: Ich bitt, o Herr, aus Herzens Grund

Recordings

• Cantatas, Adele Stolte, Gerda Schriever, Peter Schreier, Theo Adam, Thomanerchor, Gewandhausorchester, conductor Erhard Mauersberger, Eterna, 1967
• J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 2, Barbara Schlick, Kai Wessel, Christoph Prégardien, Klaus Mertens, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, conductor Ton Koopman, Antoine Marchand
• J.S. Bach: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol. 6, Siri Thornhill, Petra Noskaiova, Marcus Ullmann, Jan van der Crabben, La Petite Bande, conductor Sigiswald Kuijken, Accent 2007

The above text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ( creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ ). It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18" ( en.wikipedia.org/ ... ee_vom_Himmel_f ).