During the 18th century, the musical centerpiece of Lutheran worship services was the cantata, a multi-movement piece featuring chorus, orchestra, and vocal soloists. Johann Sebastian Bach composed over 200 cantatas during his long career as a Lutheran church musician. Listen to a complete Bach cantata every Sunday afternoon on Discover Classical.
Joachim Neander was a German Reformed theologian and hymnwriter who wrote over 60 hymns, the most famous of which is Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation. We'll hear Bach's setting of Neander's hymn from August 19th, 1725.
Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren (Praise the Lord, the mighty King of honor), BWV 137
The Time after Pentecost, in some traditions known as Ordinary Time, is the longest season in the liturgical year, lasting from mid-Spring to late November. In order to supply music for this lengthy season, Bach often wrote cantatas with more "generalized" themes, which allowed him more flexibility to program them as-needed. One such example is BWV 33, a setting of a popular penitential Lutheran hymn by Konrad Hubert. While not directly related to the proscribed readings for September 3rd, 1724, the congregation would have recognized and appreciated Bach's treatment of this well-known hymn.
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (Only Upon You, Lord Jesus Christ), BWV 33
From the writings of Martin Luther through the era of "Lutheran Orthodoxy," the problem of sin was regularly compared to a physical illness. Unsurprisingly then, the appointed Gospel for August 29th, 1723, in which Christ heals ten lepers, naturally leant itself to this juxtaposition. In this week's cantata, Bach set a libretto by Johann Jacob Rambach in which he compares sinners to the ten lepers described in Luke, chapter 17.
Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe (There is nothing sound in my body), BWV 25
Part of Bach's first cantata cycle from 1723, BWV 138 is somewhat experimental: Bach juxtaposes a series of recitatives, in which the Christian despairs of his life, with three stanzas of an anonymous chorale that speak of faith in divine deliverance. This structure foreshadows many of his later chorale cantatas.
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz (Why do you trouble yourself, my heart), BWV 138