Bach Cantatas
Sundays at 12:03pm
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.
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4/26
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An early cantata by Bach, this was first performed on April 22, 1714. While it is intended for Eastertide, the text is taken from Christ’s discourse on the second coming, when the unrepentent will "weep and lament," hence the title. The famous “Crucifixus” movement of Bach's Mass in B minor is actually a rearrangement of a chorus from this cantata.
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Weeping, Lamenting, Worrying, Fearing), BWV12
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5/3
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The Feast of the Ascension is celebrated 40 days after Easter, and is always a Thursday. This cantata, written for April 29th, 1725, is based on Christ's "Farewell Discourse," a lengthy sermon that he gives shortly before the Ascension, in which he promises to send his disciples the Holy Spirit.
Es ist euch gut, dass ich hingehe (It Is Good for You That I Leave), BWV 108
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5/10
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This Thursday is the Ascension of Our Lord, the commemoration of Christ's ascent into heaven, forty days after his resurrection. The Sundays immediately before Ascension focus on Christ's "Farewell Discourse," a collection of his final teachings to his disciples. Bach wrote this cantata in 1725 for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, and based it on passages from the Farewell Discourse.