Church cantata (Bach)

Throughout his life as a musician, Johann Sebastian Bach composed cantatas for both secular and sacred use. His church cantatas are cantatas which he composed for use in the Lutheran church, mainly intended for the occasions of the liturgical year.

History and context

Bach's Nekrolog mentions five cantata cycles: "Fünf Jahrgänge von Kirchenstücken, auf alle Sonn- und Festtage" (Five year-cycles of pieces for the church, for all Sundays and feast days),[1] which would amount to at least 275 cantatas,[2] or over 320 if all cycles would have been ideal cycles.[3] The extant cantatas are around two thirds of that number, with limited additional information on the ones that went missing or survived as fragments.

The listing below contains cycle information as available in scholarship, and may include cantatas that are or were associated with Bach (e.g., listed in the BWV catalogue), but were not actually composed by him.

Before Leipzig

Bach's earliest cantatas date from more than 15 years before he became Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1723. His earliest extant cantatas were composed in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. In 1708 he moved to Weimar where he wrote most of his church cantatas before the Leipzig era. These pre-Leipzig cantatas are not generally grouped as one of the five cycles mentioned in the Nekrolog.[4] The extant cantatas of the pre-Leipzig era are primarily known by their recasting as a cantata in one of the Leipzig cycles.

Early cantatas

Bach started composing cantatas around 1707, when he was still an organist in Arnstadt. The first documented performances of his work take place in Mühlhausen, where he was appointed in 1708.

Weimar

In Weimar, Bach was from 1714 to 1717 commissioned to compose one church cantata a month. In the course of almost four years there he thus covered most occasions of the liturgical year. The expression "Weimar cycle" has been used for the cantatas composed in Weimar from 1714 (which form the bulk of extant cantatas composed before Bach's Leipzig time).[5][6]

Köthen

In Köthen, where Bach worked from 1717 to 1723, he restaged some of his earlier church cantatas. Apart from composing several secular cantatas, Lobet den Herrn, alle seine Heerscharen, BWV Anh. 5, is the only new church cantata he appears to have composed there.

Leipzig

As Thomaskantor, director of music of the main churches of Leipzig, Bach was responsible for the Thomasschule and for the church music at the main churches, where a cantata was required for the service on Sundays and additional church holidays of the liturgical year. When Bach took up his office in 1723, he started to compose new cantatas for most occasions, beginning with Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, first performed in the Nikolaikirche on 30 May 1723, the first Sunday after Trinity. He collected them in annual cycles; five are mentioned in obituaries, three are extant.[7]

The church year begins with the first Sunday in Advent, but Bach started his first Leipzig cycles on the first Sunday after Trinity, which "also marked the beginning of the second half of the Lutheran liturgical year: the Trinity season or "Era of the Church" in which core issues of faith and doctrine are explored, in contrast to the first half, known as the "Temporale" which, beginning in Advent and ending on Trinity Sunday, focuses on the life of Christ, His incarnation, death and resurrection".[8]

Leipzig observed tempus clausum, quiet time, in Advent and Lent, when no cantatas were performed. All cantatas for these occasions date from Bach's earlier time. He reworked some cantatas from this period for different occasions. The high holidays Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were each celebrated on three days. Additionally, feasts were celebrated on fixed dates, the feasts of Mary, Purification (Mariae Reinigung, 2 February), Annunciation (Mariae Verkündigung, 25 March) and Visitation (Mariae Heimsuchung, 2 July), and the Saint's days of St. John the Baptist (Johannis, 24 June), St. Michael (Michaelis, 29 September), St. Stephen (Stephanus, 26 December, the second day of Christmas) and St. John the Evangelist (Johannes, 27 December, the third day of Christmas). Further feasts on fixed days were New Year's Day (Neujahr, 1 January), Epiphany (Epiphanias, 6 January) and Reformation Day (Reformationsfest, 31 October). Sacred cantatas were also performed for the inauguration of a new city council (Ratswechsel, in Leipzig in August), consecration of church and organ, weddings, confession, funerals, and functions of the University of Leipzig.

First cycle

Bach's first (Leipzig) cantata cycle consists of cantatas or similar liturgical works (e.g. liturgical compositions in Latin) first performed from 30 May 1723 (first Sunday after Trinity) to 4 June 1724 (Trinity).

Second cycle

Bach started a second annual cycle on the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724, planned to contain only chorale cantatas, each based on a single Lutheran hymn. He began with O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20, on the first Sunday after Trinity, composed chorale cantatas to the end of the liturgical year, began the next liturgical year with Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62 for the first Sunday in Advent, and kept the plan up to Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, performed on Palm Sunday. For the occasions from Easter to Trinity, he composed no chorale cantatas based exclusively on one hymn, but wrote a few of them in later years, such as Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, for the 28th Sunday after Trinity which had not occurred in 1724.

Bach's second (Leipzig) cantata cycle consists of cantatas first performed from 11 June 1724 (first Sunday after Trinity) to 27 May 1725 (Trinity). The first 40 cantatas of this cycle are chorale cantatas, thus this cycle is also known as the chorale cantata cycle (at least the first 40 cantatas of the cycle are known thus). Bach's chorale cantatas written at a later date and restagings of earlier chorale cantatas are also usually understood as being included in this cycle.

Third cycle

Bach's third (Leipzig) cantata cycle is traditionally seen as consisting of cantatas first performed from the first Sunday after Trinity in 1725 to Trinity Sunday in 1726, or otherwise before the Picander cycle. More recent scholarship assigns the qualification "between the third and the fourth cycles" to the few known cantatas written from 1727 to the start of the fourth cycle.[9]

In the "third cycle" period Bach also performed many cantatas composed by his second cousin Johann Ludwig Bach a Leipzig premiere. For the period from Purification, 2 February 1726, to Trinity XIII, 15 September 1726, there are extant copies by Johann Sebastian Bach and his usual scribes for 16 cantatas (JLB 1–16), covering nearly half of the occasions in that period. Another cantata, JLB 21, was likely also given its Leipzig premiere in this same period (Easter, 21 April 1726), but was for some time misattributed to Johann Sebastian Bach as his 15th cantata (BWV 15).

Fourth cycle

Bach's fourth (Leipzig) cantata cycle, known as the Picander cycle, consists of cantatas performed for the first time from 24 June 1728 (St. John's Day) to 10 July 1729 (fourth Sunday after Trinity), or later in 1729, to a libretto from the printed cycle of 70 cantata texts for 1728–29 by Picander. Later additions to this cycle and Picander librettos without extant setting from Bach's time in Leipzig can be seen as belonging to this cycle.

Later/other

Cantatas not belonging to any of the previous: e.g. first performed after the Picander cycle, uncertainty when it was first performed or for which liturgical occasion it was composed, etc. Generally it is not believed that cantatas composed after the Picander cycle amount to a cycle in its own right, at least there are not enough extant cantatas to unambiguously conclude that a fifth Leipzig cantata cycle ever existed.

Occasions

The Lutheran church of Bach's time prescribed the same readings every year, a section from a Gospel and, recited before this, a corresponding section from an Epistle. A connection between the cantata text and the readings (or at least one of the prescribed hymns for the occasion) was desired. Relevant readings and hymns are linked to the church cantata article for each occasion.

Roman numerals refer to the position of the given Sunday with respect to a feast day or season. For example, "Advent III" is the third Sunday in Advent and "Trinity V" is the fifth Sunday after Trinity. The number of Sundays after Epiphany and Trinity varies with the position of Easter in the calendar. There can be between 22 and 27 Sundays after Trinity. The maximum number of Sundays after Epiphany did not occur while Bach wrote cantatas.

Advent

Advent is celebrated on the four Sundays before Christmas. In Leipzig, only on the first Sunday a cantata was performed, because it was a Fastenzeit (season of abstinence).

Advent I

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 28 November 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 3 December 1724:

3 – Between the second and the fourth cycle?:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 28 November 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Advent II

Composed before the numbered cycles:

4 – Picander libretto for 5 December 1728:

Advent III

Composed before the numbered cycles:

4 – Picander libretto for 12 December 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Advent IV

Composed before the numbered cycles:

4 – Picander libretto for 19 December 1728:

Christmas

The Christmas season was celebrated from Christmas Day through Epiphany. In Leipzig, three days were observed, with a Christmas cantata performed every day. For the Christmas season of 1734 Bach composed the Christmas Oratorio in six parts, to be performed as the cantata in the service on the six feast days, three days of Christmas, New Year, the Sunday after New Year and Epiphany.

Christmas Day

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 1723:

2 – Second year in Leipzig, 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Second Day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas (26 December) Leipzig celebrated Christmas and St. Stephen's Day in alternating years, with different readings.

1 – First cycle, 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Third Day of Christmas

1 – First cycle, 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Christmas I

Composed before the numbered cycles:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 31 December 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 30 December 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1728 (there was however no Sunday between Christmas  27 December 1728 and New Year 1729):

New Year's Day

On 1 January the feast of the Circumcision of Christ was celebrated, as well as the New Year.

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First cycle, 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1725:

3 – Third cycle, 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

New Year I

In some years, a Sunday falls between New Year's Day and Epiphany. It is known as the Sunday after New Year's Day or as the second Sunday of Christmas.

1 – First cycle, 2 January 1724:

2 – Later addition to the chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Third cycle or "between the third and the fourth cycles",[9] 5 January 1727:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 2 January 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Epiphany

1 – First cycle, 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

After Epiphany

Depending on the date of Easter, a variable number (up to six) of Sundays occurred between Epiphany and Septuagesima, the third Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

Epiphany I

1 – First cycle, 9 January 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 7 January 1725:

3 – Third cycle, 13 January 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 9 January 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Epiphany II

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 16 January 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 14 January 1725:

3 – Third cycle, 20 January 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 16 January 1729:

Epiphany III

1 – First cycle, 23 January 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 21 January 1725:

3 – Third cycle, 27 January 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, 23 January 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Epiphany IV

1 – First cycle, 30 January 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 3 February 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 30 January 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Epiphany V

There is no extant Bach-cantata for Epiphany V, nor for Epiphany VI, Sundays that did not occur every year.[3] In Bach's first year in Leipzig the last Sunday before Pre-Lent was Epiphany IV. In his second year it had been Epiphany III (Bach's chorale cantata for Epiphany IV was composed a decade later, see above). In his third year in Leipzig the last Sunday before Pre-Lent was Epiphany V, on which occasion he staged a cantata by Johann Ludwig Bach. In the Picander cycle the last Sunday before Pre-Lent was also Epiphany V, but there is no extant cantata for that occasion in 1729.

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 10 February 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 6 February 1729:

Epiphany VI

Picander provided a libretto for the sixth Sunday after Epiphany in his 1728–29 cycle of cantata texts, although that Sunday did not occur in the liturgical year for which he wrote his cycle.[9] Epiphany VI did not occur in any of the years Bach was composing his cantata cycles.

4 – Picander cycle, libretto for Epiphany VI:

Pre-Lent

Pre-Lent, a.k.a. Shrovetide or the Pre-Lenten season, comprises the three last Sundays before Lent.

Septuagesima

Septuagesima is the third Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

1 – First cycle, 6 February 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 28 January 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig and "between the third and the fourth cycles":[9]

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 13 February 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Sexagesima

Sexagesima is the second Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 13 February 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 4 February 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 24 February 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 20 February 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Estomihi

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – Audition and first cycle, 7 February 1723 (Leipzig audition for the post as Thomaskantor) and 20 February 1724 (first cycle):

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 11 February 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig and "between the third and the fourth cycles":[9]

4 – Picander cycle, 27 February 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Lent

During Lent, the Sundays between Ash Wednesday and Easter, "quiet time" was observed in Leipzig. Only the feast of Annunciation was celebrated with a cantata, even if it fell in that time. On Good Friday, a Passion was performed in Leipzig in a Vespers service.

Invocabit

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 6 March 1729:

Reminiscere

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 13 March 1729:

Oculi

Composed before the numbered cycles:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 20 March 1729:

Laetare

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 27 March 1729:

Judica

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 3 April 1729:

Palm Sunday

The only two extant church cantatas Bach composed for Annunciation (see below) are also Palm Sunday cantatas. He composed one for this combined occasion in Weimar (BWV 182). In Leipzig Annunciation was the only occasion for which concerted music could be performed during Lent, apart from the Passion performed on Good Friday. When 25 March, the normal date for the feast of Annunciation, fell in Holy Week the feast for Annunciation was moved forward to Palm Sunday, which happened in 1728, the second time Bach restaged his Weimar cantata for the combined Annunciation and Palm Sunday occasion.

The other cantata Bach composed for the combined occasion was the last chorale cantata written in his second year in Leipzig, first performed on 25 March 1725 (BWV 1). In 1729, the Picander cycle year, Annunciation fell more than two weeks before Palm Sunday (10 April). Picander did however not provide a separate libretto for Palm Sunday in his 1728–29 cycle: he proposed to use the same libretto as for Advent I (see above). There is no extant setting of this libretto by Bach, nor of the separate Annunciation libretto.

Good Friday

Bach's Passion settings are not listed as cantatas, nor are such Passions usually included in cantata cycles. As an indication of which Passion was performed in the course of which cycle they are listed here:

Before Leipzig:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 7 April 1724

2 – Second year in Leipzig, 30 March 1725:

3 – Third to fifth year in Leipzig:

4 – Period of the Picander cycle, 15 April 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Easter

The Easter season comprises the time up to Pentecost, starting with three days of Easter.

Easter Sunday

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 9 April 1724:

2 – Second year in Leipzig and/or chorale cantata cycle, 1 April 1725:

3 – third year in Leipzig, 21 April 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 17 April 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Easter Monday

1 – First cantata cycle, 10 April 1724:

2 – Second cantata cycle, 2 April 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 22 April 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 18 April 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Easter Tuesday

1 – First cantata cycle, 11 April 1724:

2 – Second cantata cycle, 2 April 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 23 April 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 19 April 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Easter I

The Sundays between Easter and Pentecost have Latin names, derived from the beginning of the prescribed readings. The first Sunday after Easter is called Quasimodogeniti. Some sources name the Sunday after Easter the second Sunday in Easter, counting Easter Sunday as the first.

1 – First cantata cycle, 16 April 1724:

2 – Second cantata cycle, 8 April 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 28 April 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 24 April 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Easter II

The second Sunday after Easter is called Misericordias Domini.

1 – First cantata cycle, 23 April 1724:

2 – Second year cycle and/or chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 5 May 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1 May 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Easter III

The third Sunday after Easter is called Jubilate.

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 30 April 1724:

2 – Second year cycle, 22 April 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 12 May 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 8 May 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Easter IV

The fourth Sunday after Easter is called Cantate.

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First cantata cycle, 7 May 1724:

2 – Second year cycle, 29 April 1725:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 19 May 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 15 May 1729:

Easter V

The fifth Sunday after Easter is called Rogate.

1 – First cantata cycle, 14 May 1724:

2 – Second year cycle, 6 May 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 22 May 1729:

Ascension

1 – First cantata cycle, 18 May 1724:

2 – Second year cycle, 10 May 1725:

3 – Third cantata cycle, 30 May 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 26 May 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Ascension I

The Sunday after Ascension is called Exaudi.

1 – First cycle, 21 May 1724:

2 – Second cycle, 13 May 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 29 May 1729:

Pentecost to Trinity

Leipzig publications with the text of the cantatas for the four occasions from Pentecost to Trinity are extant for 1727 and 1731.[9]

Pentecost Sunday

Pentecost Sunday (1. Pfingsttag) is also called Whit Sunday.

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 28 May 1724:

2 – Second cycle, 20 May 1725:

3 – "Between the third and the fourth cycles":[9]

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 5 June 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Pentecost Monday

Pentecost Monday (2. Pfingsttag) is also called Whit Monday.

2 – Second cycle, 21 May 1725:

3 – "Between the third and the fourth cycles":[9]

4 – Picander cycle, 6 June 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Pentecost Tuesday

Pentecost Tuesday (3. Pfingsttag) is also called Whit Tuesday.

1 – First cycle, 30 May 1724:

2 – Second cycle, 22 May 1725:

3 – "Between the third and the fourth cycles":[9]

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 7 June 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity

On Trinity Sunday, the Sunday after Pentecost, the Trinity is celebrated.

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 4 June 1724:

2 – Second cycle and chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Third year in Leipzig and "Between the third and the fourth cycles":[9]

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 12 June 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Sundays after Trinity

A variable number of Sundays, up to 27 if Easter is extremely early, occurs between Trinity and the next liturgical year, which starts with the first Sunday of Advent.

Bach's first two Leipzig cantata cycles start on the first Sunday after Trinity: it was the first occasion of his tenure as Thomaskantor (30 May 1723: BWV 75), and the next year he composed the first cantata of his chorale cantata cycle for this occasion (11 June 1724: BWV 20).

After his cantata for Trinity 1725 (BWV 176, see above), which concluded his second year in Leipzig, there are however no extant cantatas before BWV 168 for the ninth Sunday after Trinity, considered the first cantata of the third cycle. For the first Sunday after Trinity 1726 he composed BWV 39, considered as a later addition to the third cycle.

The incomplete fourth cycle was supposed to start on St. John's Day 24 June 1728, followed by a cantata for the fifth Sunday after Trinity on 27 June, at least as far as the first print of Picander's libretto of this cycle is concerned. Bach's oldest extant setting of a libretto of this cycle is however a cantata for the 21st Sunday after Trinity, 17 October 1728, and when the cycle's librettos were printed for the second time in 1732 Picander indicated 1729 as the year of the cycle.[9]

The elusive fifth cycle has an even less clear start. It is not known which cantatas exactly belonged to this cycle: it may have been a collection of cantatas written before Bach's Leipzig time that were not otherwise added to one of the other numbered cycles, and of cantatas written at a later date.

Trinity I

1 – First cycle, 30 May 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 11 June 1724:

3 – Third cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 19 June 1729:

Trinity II

1 – First cycle, 6 June 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 18 June 1724:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 10 June 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 26 June 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity III

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 13 June 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 25 June 1724:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 17 June 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 3 July 1729:

Trinity IV

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 20 June 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Third year in Leipzig, 24 June 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 10 July 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity V

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 9 July 1724:

3 – Third and fourth year in Leipzig:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 27 June 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity VI

2 – Chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Third and fourth year in Leipzig:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 4 July 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity VII

1 – First cycle, 11 July 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 23 July 1724:

3 – Third and fourth year in Leipzig:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 11 July 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity VIII

1 – First cycle, 18 July 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 30 July 1724:

3 – Third cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 18 July 1728:

Trinity IX

1 – First cycle, 25 July 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 6 August 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 29 July 1725:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 25 July 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity X

1 – First cycle, 1 August 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 13 August 1724:

3 – Third cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1 August 1728:

Trinity XI

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First cycle, 8 August 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 20 August 1724:

3 – Between the second and the fourth cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 8 August 1728:

Trinity XII

1 – First cycle, 15 August 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Between the second and the fourth cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 15 August 1728:

Trinity XIII

1 – First cycle, 22 August 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 3 September 1724:

3 – Between the second and the fourth cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 22 August 1728:

Trinity XIV

1 – First cycle, 29 August 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 10 September 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 22 September 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 29 August 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity XV

1 – First cycle, 5 September 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 17 September 1724:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 5 September 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity XVI

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First cycle, 12 September 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 24 September 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 6 October 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 12 September 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity XVII

1 – First cycle, 19 September 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1 October 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 13 October 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 19 September 1728:

Trinity XVIII

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 8 October 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 20 October 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 26 September 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity XIX

1 – First cycle, 3 October 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 15 October 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 27 October 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 3 October 1728:

Trinity XX

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 10 October 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 22 October 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 3 November 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 10 October 1728:

Trinity XXI

1 – First cycle, 17 October 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 29 October 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 10 November 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, 17 October 1728:

Trinity XXII

1 – First cycle, 24 October 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 5 November 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 17 November 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 24 October 1728:

Trinity XXIII

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, 31 October 1723 (=Reformation Day, see below):

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 12 November 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 24 November 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 31 October 1728 (i.e. Reformation Day, see below):

5 – Other and/or later:

Trinity XXIV

1 – First cycle, 7 November 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 19 November 1724:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 7 November 1728:

Trinity XXV

1 – First cycle, 14 November 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 26 November 1724:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 14 November 1728:

Trinity XXVI

1 – First cycle, 21 November 1723:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 21 November 1728:

Trinity XXVII

2 – Chorale cantata cycle

5 – Other and/or later:

Fixed festivals within the Liturgical Year

Purification

The Purification of Mary (Mariae Reinigung) and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple are celebrated on 2 February.

1 – First year in Leipzig, 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1725:

3 – Between the second and the fourth cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Annunciation

The Annunciation (Mariae Verkündigung) is celebrated on 25 March, or (in Leipzig) on Palm Sunday when 25 March falls in Holy Week (see above). Bach's only extant Annunciation cantatas were composed in years when Annunciation coincided with Palm Sunday.

Composed before the numbered cycles:

1 – First year in Leipzig, Palm Sunday 25 March 1724:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, Palm Sunday 25 March 1725:

3 – "Between the second and the fourth cycle":

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 25 March 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

St. John's Day

The Feast of John the Baptist (Johannistag), remembering the birth of John the Baptist, is celebrated on 24 June.

1 – First cantata cycle, 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1724:

3 – Third year in Leipzig:[9]

4 – Picander cycle,[14] libretto planned for 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

Visitation

Visitation, the visit of Mary with Elizabeth, including her song of praise, the Magnificat, is celebrated on 2 July.

1 – First cantata cycle, 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1724:

3 – Between second and fourth cycle:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto planned for 1728:

5 – Other and/or later:

St. Michael's Day

St. Michael's Day (Michaelis) is celebrated on 29 September.

2 – Chorale cantata cycle, 1724:

3 – Third cycle, 1726:

4 – Picander cycle, libretto originally planned for 1728, setting(s) 1729:

5 – Other and/or later:

Reformation Day

Reformation Day is celebrated on 31 October.

1 – First cycle, 1723:

2 – Chorale cantata cycle:

3 – Third cycle, 1725:

4 – Picander cycle:

5 – Other and/or later:

Occasions outside of the liturgical year

Consecration of church and organ

Revelation 21:2–8, the new Jerusalem
Luke 19:1–10, conversion of Zacchaeus

New council

The election or inauguration of a new town council was celebrated with a service. Normally this was an annual event. The cantata written for such celebrations were indicated with the term "Ratswechsel" (changing of the council) or "Ratswahl" (election of the council).

Wedding

Funeral

Different occasions

References

  1. ↑ Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Friedrich Agricola. "Nekrolog" (full title: "VI. Denkmal dreyer verstorbenen Mitglieder der Societät der musikalischen Wissenschafften; C. Der dritte und letzte ist der im Orgelspielen Weltberühmte HochEdle Herr Johann Sebastian Bach, Königlich-Pohlnischer und Churfürstlich Sächsicher Hofcompositeur, und Musikdirector in Leipzig"), pp. 158–176 in Lorenz Christoph Mizler's Musikalische Bibliothek, Volume IV No. 1. Leipzig, Mizlerischer Bücherverlag, 1754, p. 168
  2. 1 2 3 4 Alfred Dörffel. Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe Volume 27: Thematisches Verzeichniss der Kirchencantaten No. 1–120. Breitkopf & Härtel, 1878. Introduction, p. VI
  3. 1 2 3 Günther Zedler. Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach: Eine Einführung in die Werkgattung. Books on Demand, 2011. ISBN 9783842357259, p. 24–25
  4. ↑ Philipp Spitta. Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750 in three volumes. Translated by Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller Maitland. Novello & Co. 1884–1885. 1899 edition, Vol. 2, Book V: "Leipzig", pp. 348–349
  5. ↑ Joshua Rifkin (2001). Liner notes to Three Weimar Cantatas, Dorian 93231
  6. ↑ Richard D. P. Jones (2006). The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Volume I: 1695-1717: Music to Delight the Spirit. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191513244, p. 212
  7. ↑ Christoph Wolff (1991). Bach: Essays on his Life and Music. ISBN 978-0-674-05926-9.
  8. ↑ John Eliot Gardiner (2004). "Cantatas for the First Sunday after Trinity / St Giles Cripplegate, London" (PDF). monteverdiproductions.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Tatiana Shabalina "Recent Discoveries in St Petersburg and their Meaning for the Understanding of Bach's Cantatas" pp. 77-99 in Understanding Bach 4, 2009
  10. ↑ BDW 175 at Bach Digital website
  11. 1 2 Alfred Dörffel. Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe Volume 27: Thematisches Verzeichniss der Kirchencantaten No. 1–120. Breitkopf & Härtel, 1878. Introduction, pp. V–IX
  12. ↑ BWV2a, p. 454
  13. ↑ Daniel R. Melamed. "J. F. Doles's Setting of a Picander Libretto and J. S. Bach's Teaching of Vocal Composition" in The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 453-474. University of California Press.
  14. 1 2 3 4 BWV2a, p. 458
  15. ↑ Alfred Dürr, Yoshitake Kobayashi (eds.), Kirsten Beißwenger. Bach Werke Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe, nach der von Wolfgang Schmieder vorgelegten 2. Ausgabe. Preface in English and German. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1998. ISBN 3765102490 - ISBN 978-3765102493, p. 458
  16. ↑ Zweite Mühlhäuser Ratswahlkantate BWV Anh. 192 / Anh. I 4→; BC (B 2) at www.bachdigital.de
  17. ↑ Mincham, Julian. "BWV 71". Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  18. ↑ Eidam, Klaus (2001). "Ch. V". The True Life of Johann Sebastian Bach. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-01861-0.

Sources

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