Apart from his hundreds of church cantatas,

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 ...

wrote secular cantatas in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, Köthen and

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 ...

, for instance for members of the Royal-Polish and Prince-electoral Saxonian family (e.g. '' Trauer-Ode''), or other public or private occasions (e.g. ''

Hunting Cantata ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'' (The lively hunt is all my heart's desire), 208.1, BWV 208, also known as the ''Hunting Cantata'', is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 31st birthday of Duke Chri ...

''). The text of these cantatas was occasionally in dialect (e.g. '' Peasant Cantata'') or in Italian (e.g. ''

Amore traditore (Treacherous love), BWV203, is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in Köthen between 1718 and 1719, while he was in the service of the court of Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. Bach wrote the unusual work on an Italian libre ...

''). Many of the secular cantatas were lost, but for some of these the text and the occasion are known, for instance when Picander later published their libretto (e.g. BWV Anh. 11– 12). Some of the secular cantatas had a plot carried by mythological figures of Greek antiquity (e.g. ''

Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan (Swift, swift, you swirling winds), BWV 201, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, on a libretto by Picander (pen name of Christian Friedrich Henrici). It is a dramma per musica, likely composed for a public performance in 1729, aro ...

''), others were almost miniature buffo operas (e.g. ''

Coffee Cantata ' (Be still, stop chattering), BWV 211, also known as the ''Coffee Cantata'', is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it probably between 1732 and 1735. Although classified as a cantata, it is essentially a miniature comic ...

''). Extant secular cantatas are published in the

New Bach Edition The New Bach Edition (NBE) (german: Neue Bach-Ausgabe; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete W ...

(Neue Bach-Ausgabe, NBA), Series I, volumes 35 to 40, with the two Italian cantatas included in volume 41. The

Bach Digital Bach Digital (German: ), developed by the Bach Archive in Leipzig, is an online database which gives access to information on compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and members of Bach family, his family. Early manuscripts of such compositions are ...

website lists 50 secular cantatas by Bach.Bach's secular cantatas in BWV order, each followed by a link to the Bach Digital Work (BDW) page of the cantata at the Bach-Digital website: Less than half of Bach's known secular cantatas survive with music. For most of the others at least the

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 ...

survives. Some of the secular cantatas are based on music Bach had composed at an earlier date (e.g. some music of the first Brandenburg Concerto was adopted in a secular cantata), and Bach quite often parodied secular cantatas into church music: for instance his ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

'' opens with music originally written for a secular cantata. In the

Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV ...

(BWV) the range of Nos. 201 to 216a contains mostly extant secular cantatas. Other secular cantatas are in the range of the

church cantatas A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during Christian liturgy. The genre was particularly popular in 18th-century Lutheran Germany, with many composers writing an extensive output: Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, ...

(BWV 1–200), most of them with an "a", "b" or "c" index added to the number of a church cantata while the cantatas share the same music. The same applies for the secular cantata precursors of the ''

Easter Oratorio The ''Easter Oratorio'' (), 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, beginning with ("Come, hasten and run"). Bach composed it in Leipzig and first performed it on 1 April 1725. History The first version of the work was completed as a ca ...

''. Other secular cantatas are listed in

BWV Anh. I Johann Sebastian Bach's vocal music includes cantatas, motets, masses, Magnificats, Passions, oratorios, four-part chorales, songs and arias. His instrumental music includes concertos, suites, sonatas, fugues, and other works for organ ...

, that is the appendix of the lost works. Even for these cantatas the music can sometimes be reconstructed, based on the church cantatas that were derived from them.

History

Bach's earliest cantatas are church cantatas, although his early '' Wedding Quodlibet'' is sometimes grouped with the secular cantatas.Terry 1933
pp. 103–104
/ref> The oldest extant secular cantata is from his

Weimar period The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

where he composed the ''

'' (BWV 208, first version) for the birthday of

Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (23 February 1682 in Weissenfels – 28 June 1736 in Sangerhausen), was a duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt and member of the House of Wettin. He was the sixth (but second surviving) son of Johann Adolf I, Du ...

on 23 February 1713. The libretto was written by Salomon Franck. A few years later, the cantata was performed again, in a modified version, for his employer

Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar ( German: ''Ernst August I''; 19 April 1688 – 19 January 1748), was a duke of Saxe-Weimar and, from 1741, of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Biography He was the second but eldest surviving son of Johann Ern ...

. In his Köthen period, Bach wrote congratulatory cantatas for his new employer,

Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister ...

, usually on the Prince's birthday, or for New Year. BWV 66a, 134a, Anh. 6, Anh. 7, 184a, 173a and Anh. 8 are examples of such cantatas, the oldest of which were composed on a libretto by

Christian Friedrich Hunold Christian Friedrich Hunold (born 29 September 1680 in Wandersleben near Gotha, died 16 August 1721 in Halle) was a German author who wrote under the pseudonym Menantes. Biography Hunold went to school in Arnstadt and continued in 1691 at t ...

. Up to this point Bach's secular cantatas are generally in the

Serenata In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italian w ...

format, lighthearted music with allegorical characters conversing about the excellence of the employer, and expressing their best wishes."Introduction", pp. 9ff.
/ref> A secular wedding cantata, BWV 202, an Italian cantata ( BWV 203), and the secular model for the

Störmthal Störmthal is a village, part of Großpösna in the Leipzig (district), Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany. It is known for its church in Baroque architecture, Baroque style. The organ, an early work by Zacharias Hildebrandt, was played and inaugu ...

cantata BWV 194 probably originated around the same period. From 1723 until his death in 1750 Bach was employed as in

: the bulk of his around 20 extant secular cantatas originated in this period.Terry 1933
p. 97
/ref> Bach's earliest known secular cantata on a libretto by

Picander Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig. Henrici was born in Stolpen. He stud ...

dates from 1725. Bach wrote or re-staged at least 36 secular cantatas in the last 25 years of his life, and around half of these were on librettos by Picander. Occasions for Bach's secular cantatas written in Leipzig included Birthdays and

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...

s for successive

prince-electors of Saxony The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

and other rulers, and their relatives, of principalities and duchies in Saxony, and similar occasions for academics of the university of Leipzig. Bach wrote sacred cantatas for funerals and weddings: he also wrote a few secular works for such occasions. In his Leipzig period part of Bach's secular cantata production is no longer in the Serenata format, but rather

dramma per musica Dramma per musica (Italian, literally: ''drama for music'', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is a libretto. The term was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the mid-17th and mid-19th centuries. In modern times the same meaning of ''dra ...

, implying a dramatic plot beyond mythological figures congratulating or paying homage to the person in whose honour the cantata was written.

Numerical and alphabetical

The BWV numbers assigned to the secular cantatas are random with regard to chronology and occasion. In the Bach Compendium (BC), the secular cantatas are part of series G. That series also includes two cantatas known from very scant sources (Nos. 49 and 52), insufficient to determine whether they were intended as sacred or secular.

By text incipit

Angenehmes Wiederau, Titelblatt des originalen Textdrucks (1737)

Most of the secular cantatas are named after the first words of the libretto (

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

): * ''Amore traditore'', BWV 203 (1720?) * ''Angenehmes Wiederau'', BWV 30a (28 September 1737, text probably by

) * ''Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten'', BWV 207a (3 August 1735) * ''Auf, süß-entzückende Gewalt'', BWV Anh. 196 (27 November 1725, music lost, text by C. Gottsched) * ''Blast Lärmen, ihr Feinde'', BWV 205a (19 February 1734) * ''Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück'', BWV 66a (10 December 1718, music largely lost, text by

) * ''Dich loben die lieblichen Strahlen der Sonne'', BWV Anh. 6 (1 January 1720, music lost, text by Christian Friedrich Hunold) * ''Die Freude reget sich'', BWV 36b (27 July 1735, music partially lost, text possibly by Picander) * ''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht'', BWV 134a (1 January 1719, music reconstructed after BWV 134, text by Christian Friedrich Hunold) * ''Durchlauchtster Leopold'', BWV 173a (10 December 1722?) * ''Entfernet euch, ihr heitern Sterne'', BWV Anh. 9 (12 May 1727, music lost, text by Christian Friedrich Haupt) * ''Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen'', BWV 249a (23 February 1725, music partially lost) * ''Erwählte Pleißenstadt'', BWV 216a (1728–1731, music partially reconstructable based on BWV 216, text by C. G. Meißner?) * ''Es lebe der König, der Vater im Lande'', BWV Anh. 11 (3 August 1732, music lost, text by Picander) * ''Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden'', BWV Anh. 18 (5 June 1732, music lost, text by

Johann Heinrich Winckler Johann Heinrich Winckler (12 March 1703 – 18 May 1770) was a German physicist and philosopher. Biography Early life Winckler was born in Wingendorf, a village in Silesia.Klemme, Heiner F; Kuehn, Manfred. (2016). ''The Bloomsbury Dictionary of E ...

) * ''Frohes Volk, vergnügte Sachsen'', BWV Anh. 12 (3 August 1733, music lost, text by Picander) * ''Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde'', BWV 201 (1729, text by Picander) * ''Heut ist gewiss ein guter Tag'', BWV Anh. 7 (10 December 1720, music lost, text by Christian Friedrich Hunold) * ''Ich bin in mir vergnügt'', BWV 204 (1726–1727, text by Christian Friedrich Hunold) * ''Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter'', BWV 193a (3 August 1727, music lost, text by Picander) * ''Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl'', BWV 198 (17 October 1727, text by

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pr ...

Other titles

* '' Aeolus Placated'',Jones 2013, p. 10 ''The Placating of Aeolus''Terry 1933
pp. 98–102
/ref> (''Der zufriedengestellte Äolus'') → ''Zerreißet, zersprenget, zertrümmert die Gruft'', BWV 205 * '' Apollo and Mercurius'' (''Apollo et Mercurius'') → ''Erwählte Pleißenstadt'', BWV 216a * ''

'' (''Kaffee-Kantate'') → ''Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht'', BWV 211 * '' The Celebration of Genius'' (''Die Feier des Genius'') → ''Verjaget, zerstreuet, zerrüttet, ihr Sterne'', BWV 249b * ''

The Dispute between Phoebus and Pan (Swift, swift, you swirling winds), BWV 201, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, on a libretto by Picander (pen name of Christian Friedrich Henrici). It is a dramma per musica, likely composed for a public performance in 1729, aro ...

'' (''Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan''); ''Phoebus and Pan'' → ''Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde'', BWV 201 * ''Flow Gently, Fair Rivers!'' (''Schleicht, spielende Wellen!'' BWV 206) * ''

Hercules at the Crossroads Hercules at the crossroads, also known as the Choice of Hercules and the Judgement of Hercules, is an ancient Greek parable attributed to Prodicus and known from Xenophon. It concerns the young Heracles/Hercules who is offered a choice between Vic ...

'' (''Herkules am Scheidewege''); ''The Choice of Hercules'' (''Die Wahl des Herkules'') → ''Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen'', BWV 213 * ''

'', also ''Hunt Cantata'' (''Jagdkantate'') → ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'', BWV 208–208a * ''A Merry Contest of the Gods'' () → ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'', BWV 208–208a * ''

Mourning Ode Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

'' (''Trauer-Ode'' or ''Trauerode''), also ''Funeral Ode'', ''Ode of Mourning'' → ''Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl'', BWV 198 * '' On Contentedness'' (''Von der Vergnügsamkeit'') → ''Ich bin in mir vergnügt'', BWV 204 * ''Peal, Shattering Fanfares!'' (''Auf, schmetternde Töne!'' BWV 207a) * '' Peasant Cantata'' (''Bauern-Kantate''), also ''Burlesque Cantata'' (''Cantate burlesque'') → ''Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet'', BWV 212 * ''Pleasant Fields of Wiederau'' (''Angenehmes Wiederau'', BWV 30a) * ''Praise thy Good Fortune!'' (''Preise dein Glücke!'' BWV 215) * "

Sheep may safely graze "Sheep may safely graze" (german: Schafe können sicher weiden, link=no) is a soprano aria by Johann Sebastian Bach to words by Salomon Franck. The piece was written in 1713 and is part of the cantata , BWV 208 (''Only the lively hunt pleases me' ...

" ("Schafe können sicher weiden"), 9th movement of the ''Hunting Cantata'' → ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'', BWV 208 * '' Shepherds' Cantata'' (''Schäferkantate'') → ''Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen'', BWV 249a * ''Sweet Voices Harmonious'' (''Vereinigte Zwietracht'', BWV 207) * ''Thunder, ye Drum-Rolls!'' (''Tönet, ihr Pauken!'' BWV 214) * ''We've got a new squire'' (''Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet'', BWV 212)

No title extant

* BWV 184a: secular cantata for New Year (1 January 1721, fragment) *

BWV 194a The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

: secular cantata model for BWV 194 (1717–1723?, text and most of the music lost) * BWV Anh. 8: congratulation cantata for New Year (1 January 1723, lost) * BWV Anh. 20: Latin ode (9 August 1723, lost: mentioned in contemporary newspapers) * BWV deest: Serenade (7 October 1739, lost: mentioned in contemporary newspapers)

Chronological and by occasion

The New Bach Edition groups the secular cantatas in the last seven volumes of Series I.

Music for feasts at the courts of Weimar, Weißenfels and Köthen

NBA Volume 35 – ''Festmusiken für die Fürstenhäuser von

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

und Köthen'': *Congratulation cantatas included in the volume: ** BWV 208: ''Was mir behagt ist nur die muntre Jagd'' (includes BWV 1040) ** BWV 134a: ''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht'' ** BWV 173a: ''Durchlauchtster Leopold'' *Music lost, only described: ** BWV 249a: ''Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen'' ** BWV 66a: ''Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück'' ** BWV Anh. 6: ''Dich loben die lieblichen Strahlen der Sonne'' ** BWV Anh. 7: ''Heut ist gewiß ein guter Tag'' ** BWV Anh. 8: congratulation cantata for

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

1723 ** BWV 184a: congratulation cantata? **

: congratulation cantata? ** BWV 36a: ''Steigt freudig in die Luft''

Music celebrating the Saxonian prince-electoral family

NBA Volume 36 – ''Festmusiken für das Kurfürstlich-Sächsische Haus I'': *Congratulation cantatas included in the volume: ** BWV 213: ''Lasst uns sorgen, uns wachen'' ** BWV 214: ''Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten'' ** BWV 206: ''Schleicht, spielende Wellen, und murmelt gelinde'' *Music lost, only described: ** BWV Anh. 9: ''Entfernet euch, ihr heitern Sterne'' ** BWV 193a: ''Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter'' ** BWV Anh. 11: ''Es lebe der König, der Vater im Lande'' **

BWV Anh. 12 Johann Sebastian Bach's vocal music includes cantatas, motets, masses, Magnificats, Passions, oratorios, four-part chorales, songs and arias. His instrumental music includes concertos, suites, sonatas, fugues, and other works for organ ...

: ''Frohes Volk, vergnügte Sachsen'' NBA Volume 37 – ''Festmusiken für das Kurfürstlich-Sächsische Haus II'': *Cantatas included in the volume: ** BWV 207a: ''Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten'' (includes an appended

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

) ** BWV 215: ''Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen'' *Only described: ** BWV 205a: ''Blast Lärmen, ihr Feinde! Verstärket die Macht'' ** BWV 208a: ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'' ** BWV Anh. 13: ''Willkommen, ihr herrschenden Götter der Erden''

Music for celebrations at the Leipzig University

NBA Volume 38 – ''Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern'': *Cantatas included in the volume: ** BWV 205: ''Zerreißet, zersprenget, zertrümmert die Gruft'' ** BWV 207: ''Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten'' (includes an appended march) **

BWV 198 The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

: ''Lass, Fürstin, lass noch einen Strahl'' ** BWV 36b: ''Die Freude reget sich'' *Only described: ** BWV Anh. 20: ''Lateinische Ode''

For Leipzig's city council and school; Celebrations of noblemen and civilians

NBA Volume 39 – ''Festmusiken für Leipziger Rats- und Schulfeiern / Huldigungsmusiken für Adelige und Bürger'': *Cantatas included in the volume: ** BWV 36c: ''Schwingt freudig euch empor'' ** BWV 30a: ''Angenehmes Wiederau, freue dich in deinen Auen'' ** BWV 210a: ''O angenehme Melodei'' (incomplete) ** BWV 212: ''Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet'' *Only described: ** BWV 216a: ''Erwählte Pleißenstadt'' ** BWV Anh. 18: ''Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden'' ** BWV Anh. 19: ''Thomana saß annoch betrübt''

For weddings and diverse occasions

NBA Volume 40 – ''Hochzeitskantaten und Weltliche Kantaten verschiedener Bestimmung'': *Cantatas included in the volume: **

BWV 202 The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

: ''Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten'' (wedding) ** BWV 216: ''Vergnügte Pleißenstadt'' (wedding, incomplete) **

BWV 210 The (BWV; ; ) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version o ...

: ''O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit'' (wedding) ** BWV 204: ''Ich bin in mir vergnügt'' **

BWV 201 (Swift, swift, you swirling winds), BWV 201, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, on a libretto by Picander (pen name of Christian Friedrich Henrici). It is a dramma per musica, likely composed for a public performance in 1729, a ...

: ''Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde'' ** BWV 211: ''Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht'' *Music lost, only described: ** BWV Anh. 196: ''Auf, süß-entzückende Gewalt''

Italian cantatas

NBA Volume 41, ''Varia: Kantaten, Quodlibet, Einzelsätze, Bearbeitungen'', contains, apart from various pieces of sacred vocal music and the incomplete

Quodlibet A quodlibet (; Latin for "whatever you wish" from ''quod'', "what" and '' libet'', "pleases") is a musical composition that combines several different melodies—usually popular tunes—in counterpoint, and often in a light-hearted, humorous man ...

, Bach's two Italian cantatas: *

BWV 203 (Treacherous love), BWV203, is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in Köthen between 1718 and 1719, while he was in the service of the court of Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. Bach wrote the unusual work on an Italian libre ...

: ''Amore traditore'' *

BWV 209 (He knows not what sorrow is), BWV 209, is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and first performed in Leipzig in 1747. With '' Amore Traditore'', it is one of the composer's only two settings of a text in Italian. History an ...

: ''Non sa che sia dolore''

Extant versions, reconstructions and recordings

Complete recordings of the secular cantatas include those by

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

and

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie S ...

. Also

Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for wh ...

devoted a series of recordings to the secular cantatas.

and the

Bach Collegium Japan Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) is composed of an orchestra and a chorus specializing in Baroque music, playing on period instruments. It was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki with the purpose of introducing Japanese audiences to European Baroque music ...

, on BIS:

References

Sources

* Jones, Richard D. P.br>"Introduction"
to Part I: The Cöthen and early Leipzig years, in * Terry, Charles Sanford (1933)
"X. The Secular Cantatas" pp. 97–104
i
''The Music of Bach: An Introduction''.
London:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

External links

List of Bach's secular cantatas at classical.net

"Bach's Secular Cantata Texts" by Ian F. Finlay in ''Music & Letters'' Vol. 31, No. 3 (Jul., 1950), pp. 189-195 at JSTOR
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Lists of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach