(Laud to God in all his kingdoms), , known as the Ascension Oratorio (), is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, marked by him as (Oratorio for the feast of the Ascension of Christ), probably composed in 1735 for the service for Ascension and first performed on 19 May 1735. Bach had composed his Christmas Oratorio, based on the gospels of Luke and Matthew, in 1734. He had composed an Easter Oratorio already in 1725. The text for the Ascension Oratorio, a compilation of several biblical sources, free poetry and chorales, was presumably written by Picander who had worked on the libretto for the Christmas Oratorio. It follows the story of the Ascension as told in Luke, Mark and the Acts of the Apostles. The oratorio is structured in eleven movements in two parts, taking about half an hour to perform. It is framed by extended choral movements, Part I is concluded by the fourth stanza of Johann Rist's hymn "" in a four-part setting. The closing chorale on the seventh stanza of Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer's "" is set as a chorale fantasia. The work is richly scored for the feast day, exactly like the Christmas Oratorio for four vocal parts, three trumpets, timpani, two flauti traversi, two oboes, strings and continuo. History Bach had composed his Christmas Oratorio, based on the gospels of Luke and Matthew, in 1734, a work in six parts to be performed on six occasions during Christmas tide. He had composed an Easter Oratorio already in 1725. The composition for Ascension appeared thus in the same liturgical year as the Christmas Oratorio. The text for the Ascension Oratorio, a compilation of several biblical sources, free poetry and chorales, was presumably written by Picander who had written the libretti for the St Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio, among others. It follows the story of the Ascension as told in Luke, Mark and the Acts of the Apostles. The bible narration is compiled from multiple sources: the first recitative of the Evangelist (movement 2) is from Luke 24 (), the second (5) from Acts 1 () and Mark 16 (), the third (7) from Acts 1 (), the last (9) from Luke 24 (), Acts 1 (), and Luke 24 (). The biblical words are narrated by the tenor as the Evangelist. In his third recitative two men are quoted, for this quotation tenor and bass