Urtext Edition

Bach's choral cantata with the opening text "Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott recht kindlich verlassen kann" BWV 139 was performed for the first time on November 12, 1724 at the main church service...

Bach chose an unconventional beginning for his nine-movement cantata 'Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind' BWV 153, which he composed in his first year as Kantor of St. Thomas's for the Sunday after N...

Bach chose an unconventional beginning for the nine-movement cantata "Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind" BWV 153, which he composed for the Sunday after New Year in 1724, his first year in office as...

The cantata 'Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren' BWV 154 was first performed on 9 January 1724, the 1st Sunday after Epiphany. The structure and extent of the work are unusual: it comprises eight, inste...

The cantata "Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren" BWV 154 was performed for the first time on January 9, 1724, the 1st Sunday after Epiphany. The structure and length of the work are unusual: it comprise...

'Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe' (I stand with my open grave before me) BWV 156 is one of the few surviving cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach that is based on texts from the so-called Picander cycle....

Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe BWV 156 is one of Johann Sebastian Bach's few surviving cantatas on texts from what is known as the Picander period. As in several other cantatas on texts by this poet,...

This six-movement cantata BWV 164 was performed for the first time on 26 August 1725 in Leipzig. The text was written by Bach's Weimar cantata poet Salomon Franck and had been published earlier in 171...

The six-movement cantata BWV 164 was first performed in Leipzig on August 26, 1725. The text was written by Bach's Weimar cantata composer Salomon Franck and appeared in his collection "Evangelisches...

The cantata 'O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad'' (O Holy spirit's solemn rite) BWV 165 is one of Bach's earliest cantata compositions and was presumably first performed in the Weimar Schlosskirche for Tr...

The cantata "O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad" BWV 165 is one of Bach's earliest cantata compositions and was probably first performed for the Feast of the Holy Trinity in 1715 in Weimar's Schlosskirche...

The cantata 'Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe' (You mortals, tell of God's devotion) BWV 167 is one of the first works which Bach wrote in his capacity as Kantor of St. Thomas's Leipzig. It was compo...

The cantata "Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe" BWV 167 is one of the first works that Bach wrote as Leipzig's Thomaskantor. The cantata is intended for the Feast of St. John and was first performed i...

The text for Bach's cantata "Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort" was published in Salomon Frank's "Evangelische Andachts-Opffer" as early as 1715, during Bach's time in Weimar. However, the concise but forceful...

Bach's cantata "Gott soll allein mein Herze haben" BWV 169 comes from the third Leipzig cantata cycle; it was first performed on October 20, 1726 on the 18th Sunday after Trinity. Recent research has...

Bach was not able to use the Weimar Advent cantata 'Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht' BWV 186a in Leipzig, as there was no performance of church music there between the 1st Sunday of Advent and Christmas. B...

The cantata "Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht" BWV 186 is to a certain extent the sister work of the much better-known cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" BWV 147. Both were composed in Advent 1716 as...

The two-part cantata from Bach's third cycle of cantatas was performed for the first time on 4 August 1726 (the 7th Sunday after Trinity). The large-scale opening chorus for full forces to a text from...

The two-part cantata from Bach's 3rd cantata cycle was first performed on August 4, 1726 (the 7th Sunday after Trinity). The large-scale, fully scored opening chorus to a text from Psalm 104 shows Bac...

The cantata 'Ich habe meine Zuversicht' BWV 188 comes from the so-called 'Picander cycle' and was written for the 21st Sunday after Trinity in 1728 or 1729. There are some particular problems associat...

The cantata "Ich habe meine Zuversicht" BWV 188 belongs to the so-called "Picander year" and was intended for the 21st Sunday after Trinity in 1728 or 1729. The cantata has a particular problem with i...

The cantata 'Nun danket alle Gott' (Now thank we all our God) BWV 192 is based on the text of the well-known hymn. It is therefore one of a small number of chorale cantatas which contain no free poeti...

The text of the cantata "Nun danket alle Gott" BWV 192 is based solely on the well-known hymn. It is therefore one of the few choral cantatas that do not contain any other free poetic texts. According...

The cantata "Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest" BWV 194 was composed on the occasion of the organ dedication in Störmthal on November 2, 1723. One year later and with only minor changes, the cantata was p...

Gott ist unsre Zuversicht BWV 197 was probably composed in the second half of the 1730s for an unknown wedding ceremony and features an impressive orchestra, especially in the opening chorus. The text...