Late church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach


Late church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach refers to sacred cantatas he composed after his fourth cycle of 1728–29. Whether Bach still composed a full cantata cycle in the last 20 years of his life is not known, but the extant cantatas of this period written for occasions of the liturgical year are sometimes referred to as his fifth cycle, as, according to his obituary, he would have written five such cycles – inasmuch as such cantatas were not late additions to earlier cycles, or were adopted in his oratorios.
Other cantatas of this period were written for special occasions such as the 200th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in June 1730, funerals and weddings. Obviously some of the information and compositions of this period of writing and performing of cantatas are missing, leading to different ways of presenting and connecting what is known about them by Bach-scholars. For instance, in the 19th century Spitta considered almost all of Bach's chorale cantatas as late cantatas, while later research connected the large majority of them to the composer's second year in Leipzig.

Occasions of the liturgical year

Several groups can be discerned in Bach's cantata production after the Picander cycle:
Bach's three extant oratorios also date from this period: the Christmas Oratorio, the Ascension Oratorio and the Easter Oratorio.
Several earlier church cantatas were restaged after the period of the Picander cycle, some of them in a new version.
Bach had several [|students] who produced church cantatas during their Leipzig formation years:
DateOccasionCantataBWVGroupAdditional information
1731-12-021st Sunday of AdventSchwingt freudig euch emporadaptations 1726–29
1734-12-25ChristmasJauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die TageOratoriosPart I of Christmas Oratorio
1745-12-25?ChristmasGloria in excelsis DeoadaptationsBased on BWV 232I
after 1740ChristmasGelobet seist du, Jesu ChristChor. cant. cycle5th and 6th mvt. altered
1734-12-262nd day of ChristmasUnd es waren Hirten in derselben GegendOratoriosPart II of Christmas Oratorio
1734-12-273rd day of ChristmasHerrscher des Himmels, erhöre das LallenOratoriosPart III of Christmas Oratorio
—Sunday after Christmas———
1735-01-01New YearFallt mit Danken, fallt mit LobenOratoriosPart IV of Christmas Oratorio
1733–34Sunday after New YearAch Gott, wie manches HerzeleidChor. cant. cycleAfter
1735-01-02Sunday after New YearEhre sei dir, Gott, gesungenOratoriosPart V of Christmas Oratorio
1735-01-06EpiphanyHerr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnaubenOratoriosPart VI of Christmas Oratorio
before 17611st Sunday after EpiphanyGedenke, Herr, wie es uns gehetBWV Anh. IIProbably spurious
—2nd Sunday after Epiphany———
—3rd Sunday after Epiphany———
1735-01-304th Sunday after EpiphanyWär Gott nicht mit uns diese ZeitChor. cant. cycle
1731-02-02PurificationIch habe genug3rd cycleAlso and versions
1735PurificationKomm, du süße TodesstundeWeimar cantatasAlso 16th Sunday after Trinity
after 1727PurificationIch lasse dich nicht later versionFuneral cantatasWas a funeral cantata in 1727
—5th Sunday after Epiphany———
—6th Sunday after Epiphany———
1733–34SeptuagesimaIch bin vergnügt mit meinem Stande—
—Sexagesima———
1728–31EstomihiDu wahrer Gott und Davids SohnWeimar cantatasC minor, four movements
—Annunciation———
1738EasterKommt, eilet und laufetOratoriosAnd
—Easter Monday———
1730?Easter TuesdayDer Friede sei mit dir2nd cycle?2nd/3rd mvt. for Purification?
—Quasimodogeniti———
1731-04-08Misericordias DominiDer Herr ist mein getreuer HirtChor. cant. cycle
—Jubilate———
—Cantate———
—Rogate———
1735-05-19AscensionLobet Gott in seinen ReichenOratoriosAscension Oratorio
—Exaudi———
1731-05-13PentecostErschallet, ihr LiederWeimar cantatas –
1740?PentecostRaset und brauset—
—Pentecost Monday———
—Pentecost Tuesday———
1730-06-04?Trinity Sunday?Nun danket alle GottChorale cantatas?No clear cycle association
—1st Sunday after Trinity———
—2nd Sunday after Trinity———
1738-06-24St. John's DayFreue dich, erlöste ScharadaptationsReworked from
1745–46St. John's DayDurch die herzliche Barmherzigkeit—
before 1761St. John's DayLobt ihn mit Herz und MundeBWV Anh. IIUnknown composer
—3rd Sunday after Trinity———
VisitationMagnificat in D MajorLatin church mus.Also Christmas;
before 1761VisitationMeine Seele rühmt und preistBWV Anh. IIIf by Hoffmann: before 1716
1732-07-064th Sunday after TrinityIch ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu ChristChor. cant. cycle
1746–474th Sunday after TrinityBarmherziges Herze last versionWeimar cantatasThree earlier versions
17325th Sunday after TrinityWer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten later versionChor. cant. cycleTwo creation periods
17345th Sunday after TrinityGott hat uns gesegnet mit allerlei—
1732-07-206th Sunday after TrinityEs ist das Heil uns kommen herChor. cant. cycle
17346th Sunday after TrinityDies wird sein Name sein—
—7th Sunday after Trinity———
—8th Sunday after Trinity———
—9th Sunday after Trinity———
—10th Sunday after Trinity———
—11th Sunday after Trinity———
—12th Sunday after Trinity———
1735-09-0413th Sunday after TrinityO! wie seelig sind die Blicke—
1735-09-1114th Sunday after TrinitySchnöder Aussatz meiner Sünden—
1730-09-1715th Sunday after TrinityJauchzet Gott in allen LandenIn ogni Tempo.Late addition to 3rd cycle?
1735-09-1815th Sunday after TrinitySorgen sind die Steine—
1735-09-2515th Sunday after TrinityMein JEsu deine Vater-Hand—
1740s?16th Sunday after TrinityKomm, du süße TodesstundeWeimar cantatasAlso Purification
1747-09-1716th Sunday after TrinityLiebster Gott, wenn werd ich...Chor. cant. cycleAfter
—17th Sunday after Trinity———
1732–35MichaelmasHerr Gott, dich loben alle wirChor. cant. cycleAfter
1734-09-29?MichaelmasBWV 248 VI a|, BWV 248aadaptationsAfter
before 1751?Michaelmas?Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft—As extant not by Bach?
1734-10-2418th Sunday after TrinityHerr Christ, der einge Gottessohn later versionChor. cant. cycleAfter 1724 v.; also 1746–47
1735?Reformation DayEin feste Burg ist unser GottChor. cant. cycleAfter and
—19th Sunday after Trinity———
—20th Sunday after Trinity———
—21st Sunday after Trinity———
—22nd Sunday after Trinity———
1744–4723rd Sunday after TrinityWohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott later versionChor. cant. cycleAfter 1724 version
—24th Sunday after Trinity———
—25th Sunday after Trinity———
—26th Sunday after Trinity———
1731-11-2527th Sunday after TrinityWachet auf, ruft uns die StimmeChor. cant. cycle

Advent

In Bach's Leipzig there was no concerted church music in the period between the first Sunday of Advent and Christmas. The final version of Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36 was first presented on the first Sunday of Advent, with an earlier version of the cantata dated between 1725 and 1730.

Christmas to Epiphany

From Christmas 1734 to Epiphany 1735 Bach presented six cantatas, together known as the Christmas Oratorio :
  • Christmas 25 December 1734: Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248I
  • Second day of Christmas 26 December 1734: Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, BWV 248II
  • Third day of Christmas 27 December 1734: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, BWV 248III
  • New Year 1 January 1735: Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben, BWV 248IV
  • Sunday after New Year 2 January 1735: Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen, BWV 248V
  • Epiphany 6 January 1735: Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben, BWV 248VI
The D Major version of Bach's Magnificat may have been performed on Christmas from 1733 onwards. Other Christmas compositions with text in Latin are the Sanctus in D major, BWV 238 and the cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191, a composition based on the Kyrie–Gloria mass of 1733 that would be expanded into his Mass in B Minor. The period after the fourth cantata cycle also saw repeat performances of his earlier Christmas cantatas Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, and Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91, the last one in a new version produced after 1740. Another Christmas cantata, Uns ist ein Kind geboren, BWV 142, was probably not composed by Bach and likely originated before Bach's time in Leipzig.
A new version of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 58, was performed on the Sunday after New Year or. This cantata was however added to chorale cantata cycle, even while not completely conforming to the chorale cantata format and in its first version performed on, a year after the bulk of that cycle had been composed.

Between Epiphany and Lent

, a cantata for the first Sunday after Epiphany was probably not composed by Bach. Johann Christoph Altnickol has been named as its possible composer.
Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir, BWV 73, the cantata for the third Sunday after Epiphany of the first cycle, was restaged at least two times between 1731 and 1750.
Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit, BWV 14, first performed on the fourth Sunday after Epiphany, latest of Bach's extant chorale cantatas, was added to the chorale cantata cycle.
There are no extant cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach for the fifth and sixth Sunday after Epiphany.
The first version of Ich habe genug, BWV 82, had been performed on the Feast of Purification. This version for soprano, flute, strings and continuo in E minor is associated with Bach's third cantata cycle, or alternatively the period "between the third and the fourth cycles". After 1729 Bach produced three further versions of this cantata: a version in C Minor for bass, oboe, strings and continuo, for performance in 1731, a third version for Bass or mezzo and a fourth version with an additional oboe da caccia. Komm, du süße Todesstunde, BWV 161 is a Weimar cantata for the 16th Sunday after Trinity. In the mid-1730s Bach had its score copied, adding "item Festo Purific Mariae" to the header of the manuscript. Also Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, the chorale cantata from 1725, was probably restaged after 1735. Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV 157 was a funeral cantata in 1727: later it was transformed into a cantata for Purification, a feast that always fell between Epiphany and Lent.
For Septuagesima 1727 Bach had composed Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke, BWV 84, a cantata on a libretto that two years later appeared in a very different form in a libretto cycle published by Picander. The 1727 cantata is however rather associated with Bach's third cantata cycle than with his fourth cantata cycle, which were settings of the librettos Picander had published for church services in 1728–29. However, a few years later Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, still living with his father in Leipzig, set the three first movements of the 1729 version of Picander's libretto for Septuagesima, Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Stande.
Bach restaged his first cycle Sexagesima cantata Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister, BWV 181, around 1743–46.
In the period from 1728 to 1731 Bach produced the final C minor version of his Weimar Estomihi cantata Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn, BWV 23, in four movements.

From Lent to Trinity

In Lent only two occasions allowed for concerted music:
  • Annunciation – no known performance of an Annunciation cantata by Bach after 1728.
  • Good Friday, on which day a Passion was performed. The only new Passion Bach appears to have composed after 1729 is his St Mark Passion, BWV 247, staged on Good Friday 1731 and 1744. Bach's Passion settings are however not seen as cantatas.
Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31 was an Easter cantata Bach had composed in Weimar. He had already restaged it during his first year in Leipzig, and did so again on Easter. Apart from that he expanded his Easter cantata from 1725, Kommt, eilet und laufet, BWV 249 into an oratorio, and restaged it multiple times in the last 20 years of his office as Thomaskantor.
For Easter Monday, Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6, and Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66, belonging to the second and the first cantata cycle respectively, were both restaged more than once after 1729.
Der Friede sei mit dir, BWV 158 is a possibly incomplete Easter Tuesday cantata. Its second and third movement seem to be derived from an earlier Purification cantata. It may have been performed as Easter Tuesday cantata of the second cycle and/or shortly after the 4th cycle. Another Easter Tuesday cantata, Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134, belonging to the first cycle, was restaged, and probably also.
Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42, a cantata from the second cycle for the first Sunday after Easter, was restaged.
Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt, BWV 112, premiered on the second Sunday after Easter , is a late addition to the chorale cantata cycle.
Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103, a cantata for the third Sunday after Easter on a libretto, was probably restaged. For the next two Sundays it is not known which cantatas Bach may have performed in the last 20 years of his life.
The Ascension Oratorio, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11, was first performed on. For the Sunday after Ascension it is not known which cantatas Bach may have performed after the second cycle.
The third version of Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172, a Weimar cantata, was first performed on Pentecost . The libretto for the Pentecost cantata of the 1728–29 Picander cycle, Raset und brauset ihr hefftigen Winde was set by Johann Friedrich Doles, then a [|student] of Bach, in 1740. The cantata was possibly performed in Leipzig at the time.
Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut, BWV 173, a cantata for Pentecost Monday composed between the third and the fourth cycles, and Erwünschtes Freudenlicht, BWV 184, a first cycle cantata for Pentecost Tuesday, were restaged 14 and respectively.
The incomplete cantata Nun danket alle Gott, BWV 192, possibly a Trinity Sunday chorale cantata premiered, was probably not composed for Leipzig. Whether it can be associated with any cycle is unclear. An earlier Trinity Sunday cantata, Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest, BWV 192, had already seen three different versions before its second version was given a repeat performance on.

Between Trinity and Advent

It is not known which cantatas Bach may have performed on the first, second and third Sundays after Trinity in the last 20 years of his life.
Freue dich, erlöste Schar, BWV 30 was first performed on the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist,. It was a parody of the secular cantata BWV 30a, premiered in 1737. Picander probably wrote the librettos, as well for the original composition as for the parody. Durch die herzliche Barmherzigkeit is a cantata for St. John's Day composed by Johann Gottlieb Goldberg for which Bach helped copy out performance parts around 1745–46. Lobt ihn mit Herz und Munde, BWV 220 is a St. John's Day cantata by an unknown composer. Its oldest manuscript went lost but existed before 1761.
Meine Seele rühmt und preist, BWV 189 is a cantata for Visitation, using a German paraphrase of the Magnificat as text. It is dated to before 1761, based on what remains from its 18th-century sources. Likely it was however composed by Melchior Hoffmann, in 1715 at the latest. Around 1733 Bach produced the D Major version of his Magnificat, which he possibly performed on Visitation.
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177, a per omnes versus chorale cantata first performed on the fourth Sunday after Trinity, is a late addition to the chorale cantata cycle. Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe, BWV 185 is a Weimar cantata for the fourth Sunday after Trinity existing in four versions, the last of which was produced in Leipzig around 1746–47.
Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV 93 is a chorale cantata for the fifth Sunday after Trinity, first presented in Bach's second year in Leipzig. Around 1732–33 he restaged it in a modified version.
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, BWV 9 is a chorale cantata for the sixth Sunday after Trinity, first presented on and added to the chorale cantata cycle.
It is not known which cantatas Bach may have performed after 1729 on the seventh and eighth Sundays after Trinity.
Was frag ich nach der Welt, BWV 94, a chorale cantata for the ninth Sunday after Trinity, first performed in Bach's second year in Leipzig, was probably restaged around 1732–35. Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort, BWV 168, a 1725 cantata for the same occasion, was possibly restaged after 1745.
For the tenth to thirteenth Sundays after Trinity it is not known which cantatas may have been performed in Leipzig after 1729.
The chorale cantata for the 14th Sunday after Trinity Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78, first performed in 1724, was restaged after 1735.
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51, first performed on the 15th Sunday after Trinity, was designated for that Sunday or for any occasion.
Komm, du süße Todesstunde, BWV 161, a cantata for the 16th Sunday after Trinity or Purification, also exists in a later version, which was however probably not produced by the composer. For the 16th Sunday after trinity Bach produced a second version in D major of the chorale cantata Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? BWV 8. Its first version, in E major, had been premiered in 1724.
No performances of a cantata for the 17th Sunday after Trinity have been identified in Bach's last 20 years in Leipzig.
The chorale cantata Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130, for Michaelmas, premiered in 1724, was restaged in a modified version around 1732–35. is a fragment of a nameless Michaeliskantate, likely first performed in 1734, shortly before its music was almost entirely adopted in the last part of the Christmas Oratorio Michaelmas has also been suggested for Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft, BWV 50, which has however an unclear origin.
Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn, BWV 96, a chorale cantata for the 18th Sunday after Trinity, first performed in 1724, was given a repeat performance with a modified orchestration on. The cantata was further restaged around 1746–47.
Bach's final version of the Reformation Day cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 may have originated around 1735. An earlier Leipzig version of the cantata, BWV 80b, was written 1727–31.
For the 19th to 22nd Sundays after Trinity no performed cantatas have been identified in Bach's last 20 years in Leipzig.
A modified version of the 1724 chorale cantata Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott, BWV 139 for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity was presented around 1744–47.
No further cantatas performed on Sundays after Trinity are known for the period 1730–49, until the 27th and last possible Sunday after Trinity: on that Sunday in 1731 Bach premiered Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, a late addition to the chorale cantata cycle.

Other occasions

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" or "Ratswahl". In Leipzig the service was held at the Nikolaikirche on the Monday following Bartholomew, 24 August.
Bach's Leipzig Ratswahl cantatas include:
25 June 1730 was 200 years after the Augsburg Confession. In Leipzig the occasion was remembered by a three-day festival. Picander wrote three cantata librettos, one for each day of the celebration. Johann Sebastian Bach set these librettos. The music of these settings is however largely lost:
  1. Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190a
  2. Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120b
  3. Wünschet Jerusalem Glück, BWV Anh. 4a

    Wedding

Leipzig church cantatas for weddings include:
Apart from church cantatas for weddings Bach also composed secular wedding cantatas such as BWV 202 and 210.

Funeral

Funeral music of Bach's Leipzig period includes:
  • On, at the funeral of J. C. von Ponickau in Pomßen, a cantata in two parts was presented:
  • * Part I: Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV 157, later reused as a cantata for Purification, see above.
  • * Part II: Liebster Gott, vergisst du mich, BWV Anh. 209, a lost cantata, composed on a 1711 libretto for the seventh Sunday after Trinity by G. C. Lehms. The cantata may have been composed in the Weimar period, or in the period between the second and the fourth cycle.
  • Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a,, memorial service for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen
  • Schließt die Gruft! ihr Trauerglocken, BWV Anh. 16
  • Mein Gott, nimm die gerechte Seele, BWV Anh. 17
Apart from church cantatas for funerals, Bach also composed secular mourning music and several funeral motets.

Reception

Most of the cantatas of Bach's last 20 years in Leipzig probably went to Halle with Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, where most of it went lost. Extant parts of Bach's late cantata production include:
  • Late additions to the chorale cantata cycle: this cycle remained in Leipzig. Considering almost all chorale cantatas as late compositions, Spitta discussed them extensively in his 19th-century Bach-biography.
  • oratorios: these were conserved in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's legacy.
  • Revised versions of cantatas composed for earlier cantata cycles.
  • Cantatas composed for occasions outside the liturgical calendar, cantatas largely consisting of re-used material originally not composed for occasions of the liturgical calendar, and arrangements of compositions by others.
  • Cantatas composed by students in the period they were tutored by Bach.
Whether there ever was a consistent fifth cycle of cantatas composed by Bach in the last twenty years of his life remains a matter of speculation: evidence of such cycle is remote and circumstantial, but it is a returning topic in scholarly literature.