Page Category: Bach Cantatas

Cantata BWV 134Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß

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Translation

Analysis

This cantata has a complex history. Originally written as a secular cantata in Köthen (the original of which is now numbered BWV 134a), it was performed in Leipzig in 1724 and 1731, before being extensively revised in 1735. The poetry used in the sacred setting is also rather complex, without ever getting very precise. A lot of theological concepts waft about the place in poetic language without allusion to any specific Biblical text one might be able to latch on to. The translation has been a pain, basically! [...] 

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Cantata BWV 131Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir

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Complete Performance

Translation

Analysis

This is one of Bach's earliest cantatas. It dates from his Mühlhausen period, around 1707 or 1708. It was written for an unknown occasion: possibly a penitential service after a local fire. The autograph manuscript ends with the inscription, "At the request of Dr. Georg Christian Eilmar set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Organist at Mülhausen", which is curious, because Eilmar was the pastor at the church Bach was not the organist of (though he did have associations with it, because civic ceremonies were held there and his BWV 75 cantata would have been performed at Eilmar's church). [...] 

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