Soli Deo gloria

Soli Deo gloria is a Latin term for Glory to God alone. It has been used by artists like Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and Christoph Graupner to signify that the work was produced for the sake of praising God. The phrase has become one of the five solas propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during the Protestant Reformation.

As a doctrine, it means that everything that is done is for God's glory to the exclusion of mankind's self-glorification and pride. Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory and not their own.

Meaning and related terms

The three words Soli Deo gloria (abbreviated S. D. G.) have meaning in Latin as follows: soli is the (irregular) dative singular of the adjective "lone", "sole", and agrees with the dative singular Deo, (in the nominative dictionary form Deus), meaning "to God"; and gloria is the nominative case of "glory","gloria".

Soli Deo gloria is usually translated glory to God alone, but some translate it glory to the only God. A similar phrase is found in the Vulgate translation of the Bible: "soli Deo honor et gloria". This is grammatically the same as the signature of Bach and Handel, but using the dative "to the only God" then two nominative subjects "honour and glory." The verse reads differently in Greek and English because of the additional adjective "wise" aphthartoi, aoratoi, monoi, sophoi Theoi "to the immortal, invisible, unique, wise, God."

Soli Deo Gloria (album)

Soli Deo Gloria is the first studio album by Norwegian futurepop band Apoptygma Berzerk. It was originally released in 1993 and gained the band attention the world over. It had been out of print for years until it was remastered and reissued in 2003 by Tatra Records and then again in 2007 as a digital release. It was re-issued as a deluxe remaster edition with a digipak cover in 2008.

"Ashes To Ashes '93" is an updated version of the song "Ashes to Ashes" found on the band's first single of the same name.

All Tomorrow's Parties is a The Velvet Underground cover.

Track listing

Bonus tracks

Soli Deo Gloria (record label)

Soli Deo Gloria is a British record label which releases recordings of the Monteverdi Choir and other ensembles conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. It was founded in order to release recordings made during the Bach Cantata pilgrimage that took place in the year 2000. According to its website, the name Soli Deo Gloria is drawn from the initials that Johann Sebastian Bach appended at the end of each of his Cantatas, dedicating them to the "glory of God alone". The label is a not-for-profit organisation.

Bach recordings

Gardiner had a successful collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon from the 1980s, but the company was willing to release only a small number of the Bach cantatas which were recorded live in 2000. SDG set out to release a complete set of CDs of the Bach Cantata pilgrimage's concerts. In October 2005 its very first release, Bach Cantatas, volume 1 (SDG101), won "Record of the Year" at the Gramophone Awards. In 2006, at the behest of the Bach Archive in Leipzig, SDG released the first recording of a newly discovered piece by Bach, ‘Alles mit Gott’. In 2011, by which time nearly all Bach's church cantatas had been released, SDG's Bach Cantata Pilgrimage series earned a Gramophone Award for special achievement.