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.
Many of Bach's cantatas are based off of a single chorale, but this week's, first performed on October 3rd, 1723, quotes three: Ah, God and Lord; Lord Jesus Christ, Only Comfort; and Lord Jesus Christ, I Cry Out to You. Remarkably, the authors of all three chorales are unknown: the latter two are anonymous, and the authorship of the first is disputed.
Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen (Wretched Man that I Am, Who Shall Deliver Me)BWV 48
Lutheran eucharistic theology often describes communion as a "foretaste of the heavenly kingdom," drawing on the imagery of the heavenly banquest from Matthew 26. Consequently, Lutheran eucharistic hymns are typically celebratory in tone, including this well-known chorale by Johann Crüger, in which the soul is encouraged to "adorn itself" with heavenly glory and gladness. Crüger's chorale is the basis for this week's cantata, first performed on October 22nd, 1724.
Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (Adorn yourself, O dear soul), BWV 180
The bulk of Bach's more than 300 cantatas were written in a span of only three years, beginning with his appointment as Thomaskantor in May of 1723. While most of the cantatas from his third cycle were written in 1725, there were a number of "gaps," which Bach did not fill until his fourth or fifth year in the position. This week's cantata is one such example: while it fits into his third cycle for the 21st Sunday after Trinity, it was not composed until a year later, in 1726. A meditation on trust, it quotes Samuel Rodigast's cantata, "What God does is well done."
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (What God does is well done), BWV 98