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The work has five movements. The first movement is a brief Sinfonia for the string section. In the second movement, the choir presents material related to the themes presented in the orchestral introduction. After an introductory flourish with a brief contrapuntal development, Bach presents the text "He will bless the house of Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron" as a canon, with similar parts descending through the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass sections, then mixed up with altos echoed by sopranos, then basses, then tenors. The movement ends with a flourish reminiscent of the opening.

Next come a pair of duets. The third movement is a duet for soprano and solo violin, in da capo format. The fourth movement is a duet for tenor and bass, in which the two soloists echo one another closely, to illustrate the text, "May the Lord bless you forever and ever." The work finishes with a choral finale which has a contrapuntal introduction similar to the one in the second movement. Then, on the word Amen, Bach fashions a fugue in which an overarching phrase and a faster-moving counter-phrase is passed back and forth between the four choral sections and the violins. The subject and countersubject are only heard in one voice at any time, and the other singers and players provide a decorative filigree around the two subjects.

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1. Sinfonia Violin I/II, Viola, Violoncello, Organ, Continuo
2. Chorus (SATB) Violin I/II, Viola, Violoncello, Organ, Continuo Text: Psalm 115:12		Der / Herr / denket / an / uns / und / segnet / uns. The / Lord / thinks / of / us / and / blesses / us Er / segnet / das / Haus / Israel, He / blesses / the / house / Israel er / segnet / das / Haus / Aaron. he / blesses / the / house / Aaron	The Lord remembers us, and he will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron.
3. Aria (soprano) Violins in unison, Organ, Continuo Text: Psalm 115:13		Er / segnet, / die / den / Herrn / fürchten, He / blesses / those / the / Lord / fear beide, / Kleine / und / Große. both / small / and / great	The Lord will bless all who fear him, high and low alike.
4. Duet (tenor, bass) Violin I/II, Viola, Organ, Continuo Text: Psalm 115:14		Der / Herr / segne / euch / je / mehr / und / mehr, The / Lord / bless / you / ever / more / and / more euch / und / eure / Kinder. you / and / your / children	May the Lord bless you forever and ever, both you and your children.
5. Chorus (SATB) Violin I/II, Viola, Violoncello, Organ, Continuo Text: Psalm 115:15		Ihr / seid / die / Gesegneten / des / Herrn, You / are / the / blessed / of the / Lord der / Himmel / und / Erde / gemacht / hat. who / heaven / and / earth / made / had Amen.	You are the blessed of the Lord, the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen.
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About the Cantata, BWV 196

• Bach Cantatas Website
  A nifty site devoted to Bach's cantatas and other sacred works, with links to the German text, English translations, a list of available recordings and some listener opinions on favorite recordings.

Bibliography

• Boyd, Malcolm. Bach, 3rd ed.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  One of the better short biographies of Bach available.

• Unger, Melvin P. Handbook to Bach's Sacred Cantata Texts: an interlinear translation with reference guide to Biblical quotations and allusions. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1996.
  Title more or less says it all; this volume contains texts to all of Bach's sacred cantatas, a word-for-word and idiomatic translation, and cross references to Biblical quotations and allusions.

• Wolff, Christoph. Johann Sebastian Bach: The learned musician.New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000.
  The latest comprehensive biography.

General information about Johann Sebastian Bach

• J.S. Bach Home Page
  A comprehensive web resource for information on J.S. Bach, including an excellent brief biography, an extensive (unannotated) bibliography of books and articles on Bach, his life, and his music, recommended recordings, MIDI files, and a select list of links to other Bach-relevant web sites.

• Bach books (Simon Crouch)
  A comprehensive annotated bibliography of books about J.S. Bach.

• J.S. Bach FAQ
  This is the file of Frequently Asked Questions for the alt.music.j-s-bach newsgroup. Useful resource for some of the basics.

About music theory and vocabulary

• Easy Music Theory (Gary Ewer - requires QuickTime and Java)
  Starts from the ultimate basics (like how to draw a G clef) and builds up to modes, cadences, and inversions.

• Bach canons and fugues (Timothy A. Smith)
  An introduction to canons and fugues, with a first-rate introduction to the structure and vocabulary of canons and fugues, and analysis of a number of examples by Bach.

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