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.
First performed on the 9th of January, 1724 (although possibly composed, in part, during Bach's time at Weimar), this week's cantata is based on one of the few accounts of Christ's childhood, in this case taken from Luke 2:41-51. After traveling to Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus is mistakenly left in the city, and his parents don't discover their mistake until the day after they've left. After a frantic search, they find him sitting in the temple, listening and asking questions. The librettist of this cantata uses his parents' search as a parallel to man's search for Christ.
Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren (My Precious Jesus Now Has Vanished) BWV 154
While the traditional Gospel reading for the second Sunday after Epiphany is Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine from John 2, Bach wrote a more general cantata for this Sunday, first performed on January 14, 1725. He based the work on a hymn by well-known composer and mystic Martin Moller, a meditation on Christ's comfort in times of distress.
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (Oh God, How Much Heartache), BWV 3
Albert of Prussia was a member of the Teutonic Order who converted to Lutheranism and became the first Duke of Prussia in 1525. He wrote the hymn that this week's cantata is based on, set by Bach in 1725.
Was mein Gott will, das gscheh allzeit (What My God Wants, May it Always Happen) BWV 111
Written for the Purification of Mary, February 2nd, 1727, this cantata, and particularly its first aria, is one of Bach's most famous, and enjoyed popularity outside of Leipzig during his lifetime. Based on the account in Luke 2 of Mary's ritual purification at the temple in Jerusalem, the libretto is based on the Holy Family's encounter with Simeon, an aged individual who has been promised by God that he would see the Messiah before his death. As he holds the Christ Child, he sings the "Song of Simeon," a canticle known by its Latin incipit as the Nunc dimittis, which itself became the traditional canticle for the prayer office of Compline - the final office before one retires for the evening.