In search of the lost parts of Bach's cantata Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (BWV190)/ Zoltán Gönz.

The surviving manuscript score of Bach's first cantata for New Year's Day in Leipzig (BWV190) does not contain the first two movements of the composition; only the choral parts and the two violin parts have survived. The parts for the three trumpets, timpani, three oboes, bassoon, viola and continuo are all lost. What is left is so incomplete and the loss of information so dramatic that we might think a performance of the first movement would be out of the question. This article appraises previous scholarly reconstructions of the movement and introduces the author's own reconstruction, which is published in full in an online appendix. In the process of reconstruction, many insights arise into Bach's compositional technique for large-scale choral movements and his preferred instrumentation,