Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99
chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (What God does is well done), BWV 99, in Leipzig for the 15th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 17 September 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" by Samuel Rodigast (1674).
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan belongs to Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the second cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. The text retains the first and last stanza of the hymn unchanged, while the text of the inner stanzas was paraphrased by an unknown librettist into a sequence of four movements of alternating recitatives and arias, retaining some lines from the original chorale. The first movement is a chorale fantasia, and the work is closed by a four-part chorale setting.
The cantata is scored for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of flauto traverso, oboe d'amore, strings and basso continuo, with a horn doubling the soprano in the outer movements.
History and words
Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig as part of his second annual cycle of chorale cantatas. for the 15th Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul's admonition to "walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25–6:10), and from the Gospel of Matthew, from the Sermon on the Mount, the demand not to worry about material needs, but to seek God's kingdom first (Matthew 6:23–34). The cantata text is based on the chorale "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" by Samuel Rodigast, which is generally related to the Gospel.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99” is chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Gott, wohlgetan and chorale, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1327606. VIAF identifies the subject as 179454885. The Library of Congress control number is n85024259. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1724, 1674 and 1723.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99 primary sources, Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99 archive and Gott research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.