Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust (BWV 170) was written for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (July 28) 1726. We can assume that Bach performed the brief work together with a cantata by his Meiningen cousin Johann Ludwig Bach in the same church service, instead of a two-part cantata (before and after the sermon). Bach took the text from Georg Christian Lehms’s cantata yearbook for 1711: the subject is Christian righteousness and the fulfilment of the Pharisee’s laws. The pastoral title aria begins without an introductory movement: the oboe d’amore plays in unison with the first violin and forms a bridge to the timbre of the alto voice, radiating an atmosphere of great calm. In the fully composed da capo, the epilogue corresponds to the introduction. The contrast follows after the recitative (No. 2) in the aria "Wie jammern mich doch die verkehrten Herzen” with obbligato organ (two manuals without bass) and unison violins and viola with the alto. The basso continuo as the “end and origin of all music" is absent: Bach deliberately composed what he referred to in a famous comment as “an infernal whining and drawling." The figures at ”Rache" (rengeance) ”erfreun” (rejoice) and ”frech" (frendish) that seem wrong in combination and the trill on ”verlacht” make it clear that the attitude of the Pharisees is exposed here. The text turns to God in the accompagnato, then follows the triumphant aria of the soul turning away from the world. The rapid organ figures emphasize how distasteful the world has become ("mir ekelt...").
Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm (BWV 171) from Picander’s cantata collection printed in 1728 was written for New Year's Day 1729. The festive orchestration with trumpets and timpani indicates that the work belongs to the Christmas period. A fair copy of the cantata score has been preserved, and gives us insight into the way Bach composed. For the opening fugue Bach referred back to an earlier work that he seems to have valued highly. In about 1748 he used the movement in the Symbolum Nicenum (confession of faith) of the B minor Mass to the text "Patrem omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae.” Fugue here is a factor that unites diversity. The aria that follows, ”Herr, soweit die Wolken gehen,” praises the Lord from the human standpoint, as the violins indicate symbolically. After the prayer-like alto recitative, the unqualified confession of the soul (soprano) is related to the tenor aria. The soprano aria is taken from the aria ”Angenehmer Zephyrus” in the secular cantata Der Zufriedengestellte Äolus (BWV 205) of t 725 - Zephyrus is the god of the west wind. Although both texts were written by Prcander, they are different in form, so that Bach had to alter the structure of the music in the parody: the aria was lengthened by ten bars. The depiction of nature on which both arias are based means that the soprano aria is governed by the same feelings as the tenor aria. An accompagnato recitative sung to two oboes and basso continuo with elaborate arioso elements leads into the final chorale, which Bach took over with the same text from the New Year's cantata Jesu, nun sei gepreiset (BWV 41) of 1725. Interlude lines on the trumpets and timpani correspond to the trumpet passages in the opening fugue. Thus Bach created a self-contained work from previous compositions, with matching outer movements, arias with the same mood and new recitatives.
Erschallet, ihr Lieder (BWV 172) was probably composed rn Weimar for Whitsunday of 1714 (May 20). Bach performed the work at least three more times, making alterations on each occasion. A D major version of this cantata from the Leipzig period corresponds approximately to the pitch of the Weimar Chorton (C major). In this recording the work is heard in C major. The author of the text rs not named, nor is he known from the printed text: however, Bach researchers generally accept the authorship of Salomo Franck, since there are no freely written recitatives (the only recitative has a Biblical text). Timpani and trumpets symbolize God's kingship as the musical theme of the resplendent opening movement in da capo form. The bass recitative (Christ’s words) is followed by the aria ”Heiligste Dreieinigkeit" with the symbolic instrumentation (rare for Bach) of three trumpets, timpani and basso continuo accompanying the solo bass voice. The vocal figures are derived entirely from those of the heraldic trumpet part. After the weight of this aria, the tenor' aria "O Seelenparadies, das Gottes Geist durchwehet” with the calm flow of the unison strings seems to be unbound by the force of gravity. The pietistic itlea of the personification of the soul is hinted at, and becomes concr'ete in the duet (No. 5) with the ”Hirnmelswind” (Heaven mild; alto), which is obviously the poet’s attempt to get out of a predicament: the idea of bridal mysticism (the comforter as briedegroom of the soul) did not seem appropriate in connection with Whitsun and the Trinity, The chorale ”Von Gott kömmt mir einen Freudenschein” likewise suggests the symbolism, though. The duet is made especially elaborate by the figured chorale ”Kornrn, heiliger Geist” in the continuo.
Erhöhtes Fleisclr und Blut (BWV 173) was probably written for the Second Day of Whitsun (May 29) 1724 as a parody of the gratulatory cantata Durchlauchtster Leopold (BWV 173a) for the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen, Bach’s employer from the end of 1718 until he transferred to Leipzig. The unknown author of the church cantata parodied the secular text faithfully with the exception of two movements, Nos. 6 and 7, which he left out. Bach only changed the vocal parts in the recitatives: he took over the instrumental part without any major alterations and only compressed the choral part and added instrumental sections in the last movement. The secular original is constantly in evidence, and Cantata No. 173 is conspicuously free of counterpoint and musical symbolism. Two movements are of particular interest. The soprano and bass aria "So hat Gott die Welt geliebt” (original: ”So schau des holden Tages Licht”) only becomes a duet with parallel parts in the second section. This style comes from the love duet of Italian opera, where it is rare and is always kept short. The recilative duet (No. 5) "Unendlichsten den man doch Vater nennt” is textually suited to the gratulatory cantata in the original (”Durchlauchtigster den Anhalt Vater nennt"), but it is just as rare of its kind among the true church cantatas as the preceding aria. Like Christmas and Easter, Whitsun was celebrated on three days in Bach’s time, and each day required the performance of a cantata. Cantata No. 173 can therefore also been seen as an example of Bach’s economic working methods. The same is true to a certain extent of Cantatas No. 174 and No. l75.
Bach wrote Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte (BWV 174) for the Second Day of Whitsun (June 6) 1729 to a text from Picander’s 1728 cantata collection. A comparatively large orchestra reduces the workload of the singers. Bach made the first movement of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 the basis of the Sinfonia here, adding two hunting horns with their own part and two oboes and one taille (tenor oboe or oboe da caccia) in the scoring to reinforce the strings and vary the timbre. The weighty introductory movement is followed by an alto aria with two oboes and basso continuo in which the woodwinds imitate the vocal parts. The middle section is short in order not to detract from the expression of radiating love. The rich string writing of the Sinfonia with three violins, three violas and three cellos is used (with the exception of the third cello) in the movements that follow. A soft string sound from the unison violins and violas forms the basis of the recitativo accompagnato (No. 3), which leads into the bass aria (No. 4). The bass singer declaims strikingly in the vocal sections, which are woven into the broad flow of the strings (unison here, as well) - a clear contrast to the animated polyphony of the Sinfonia. The closing chorale "Herzlich lieb hab ich dich” follows on (melodically, too) from the bass aria and uses the full-sounding orchestra of the Sinfonia without the hunting horns.