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.
The twelve days of the liturgical season of Christmas begin at sundown on December 24th and end at sundown on January 5th, which places this first weekend of the new year squarely in the Christmas season. While considered a festive season, many of the twelve days commemorate tragedies, including the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr; the massacre of the children in Bethlehem by Herod; and the Holy Family's flight into Egypt. The anonymous librettist of this week's cantata took the latter two events and compared them to the Christian's suffering for the faith. This cantata was first performed on January 2nd, 1724.
Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind (Behold, dear God, how all my foes) BWV 153
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