' (The merry hunt is all that I love), BWV 208.2 and 208.3 both also BWV 208a, are later versions of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's ''Hunting Cantata'', BWV 208.1, BWV 208.Works , and at Bach Digital website. Like the original

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

, which was first performed in Weißenfels in 1713, the two later versions belong to the body of around 50 known secular cantatas by Bach. The BWV 208.2 and 208.3 versions survived as later additions to Bach's autograph score of BWV 208.1: * BWV 208.2: modifications in the manuscript score, rewriting it as a cantata in honour of Duke Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. There is no known contemporary performance date for this version. * BWV 208.3: appended

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

, text version in honour of Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony. This version was performed in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

on 3 August 1742. The cantata is counted among the works Bach wrote for celebrations of the Leipzig University, ''Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern''. The libretto of the original cantata was written by

Salomon Franck Salomon (also Salomo) Franck, 6 March 1659 – 11 July 1725), was a German lawyer, scientist, and poet. Franck was working at Weimar at the same time as the composer Johann Sebastian Bach and he was the librettist of some of the best-kn ...

for the occasion of the 31st birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels. Apart from text adjustments in Bach's autograph score, such as the replacement of the name "Christian" by "Ernst August", the music of the BWV 208.2 version is deemed identical (or at least near-identical) to that of the first version. The music of the BWV 208.3 version, performed on the occasion of the name day of the Elector, also likely differed little or nothing from previous versions. Other Bach cantatas in honour of the Electors of Saxony are known, for example ''Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter'', BWV 193.1, a name day cantata written in 1727 for Frederick Augustus II's father and predecessor.

Recordings

Leipziger Universitätschor The Leipziger Universitätschor (LUC) is the university choir of the University of Leipzig. A mixed choir, it is formed by approximately 100 students from all faculties. It was founded in 1926 as Madrigalkreis Leipziger Studenten (Madrigal circle o ...

/ Pauliner Barockensemble,

David Timm David Timm (born 24 April 1969) is a German pianist, organist, choral conductor and jazz musician. Since February 2005 he has been (University Music Director) of the Leipzig University, and thus also director of the Leipziger Universitätschor, ...

. ''J. S. Bach: Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern''. Querstand, 2009.Johann Sebastian Bach: Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfesten (5 CD box)
at

website.

References

Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach {{classical-music-stub