The composition is a solo cantata (German: Solokantate) because, apart from the closing chorale, it requires only a single vocal soloist (in this case a bass).

In Leipzig, cantata music was expected on Sundays and feast days except for the "silent periods" (tempus clausum) of Advent and Lent.

[6] The third cantata cycle encompasses works composed during Bach's third and fourth years in Leipzig, and includes Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen.

[12] For the occasion, Bach had composed in 1723 Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen, BWV 48 (Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?

),[13] and in 1724 the chorale cantata Wo soll ich fliehen hin, BWV 5 (Where shall I flee), based on Johann Heermann's penitential hymn of the same name.

[17] He published a yearbook of cantata texts in 1728, Gott-geheiligte Sabbaths-Zehnden (Sabbath Tithes Devoted to God), which contains several Bach cantatas—including Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen.

The metaphor of life as a sea voyage in the first recitative comes from the beginning of that Sunday's Gospel reading: "There He went on board a ship and passed over and came into His own city" (Matthew 9:1).

[12] The third movement expresses joy at being united with the saviour, and its text refers to Isaiah 40:31: "Those that wait upon the Lord shall gain new strength so that they mount up with wings like an eagle, so that they run and do not grow weary".

[12] On the title page, Bach replaced the word "Kreuz" with the Greek letter χ, a rebus he used to symbolize the paradox of the cross.

Its text describes (in the first person) renouncing the beautiful dwelling place of the world ("schönes Weltgebäude"), only longing so dearly for the most cherished Jesus ("allerschönstes Jesulein").

Bach scored for a bass soloist, a four-part choir (SATB) in the closing chorale, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes (Ob), taille (Ot), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), cello (Vc), and basso continuo.

[34] In his biography of Bach, Albert Schweitzer points out that Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen is among the few works in which Bach carefully marked the phrasing of the parts; others are the Brandenburg Concertos, the St Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio and a few other cantatas, including Ich habe genug and O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 60.

[37] John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, described the beginning of the bass melody as a musical rebus, or conjunction of two words, Kreuz-stab, with the upward part "a harrowing arpeggio to a sharpened seventh (of the sort Hugo Wolf might later use)",[38] and the downward part as "six and a half bars of pained descent to signify the ongoing burden of the Cross".

[39] After the soloist sings a series of melismatic lines, groups of strings and oboes are introduced as counterpoint, echoing motifs from the opening ritornello.

They give an impression of resistance, of hesitation and hindrance, as the rhythm is arduously dragged along, breaking the momentum of the melody: "They take on a faltering demeanour, both uncertain and overwhelmed, like the stride of a man enchained in shackles.

"[40] Pirro continues that in the soloist's opening phrases of the aria, the repeated notes have particular importance; the motif not only conveys an impression of encumbrance but also of unrelieved distress; the melismatic vocalise displays an unsure hesitant feeling, like that of a sick pilgrim struggling to make his way along the dark recesses of an unfamiliar flight of steps; it conveys weakness and anxiety; the aria, constantly drawn out, seems imbued with an infinite weariness.

Affliction, woe, and want Are billows rising to smite me, And which with death Each day affright me; The anchor that will hold me fast Is His compassion vast, Whereby He oft delights my soul.

The lively and joyous concertante is written as a duet for obbligato oboe, bass soloist and continuo, and is full of elaborate coloraturas in the solo parts.

[39] The fourth movement, "Ich stehe fertig und bereit, das Erbe meiner Seligkeit mit Sehnen und Verlangen von Jesus Händen zu empfangen" ("I stand ready to receive the inheritance of my divinity with desire and longing from Jesus' hands"),[26] is a recitativo accompagnato with strings.

After seven bars the time signature changes from 4/4 to 3/4, resuming a simple, calm version of the second half of the abgesang from the first movement[44] and repeating words related to the Book of Revelation in a triplet rhythm: "Da wischt mir die Tränen mein Heiland selbst ab" ("There my Saviour Himself wipes away my tears").

[46] Gardiner describes this change similarly: " ... now slowed to adagio and transposed to F minor, and from there by means of melisma floating effortlessly upwards, for the first time, to C major".

[39] The final four-part chorale,[c] "Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder" ("Come, o death, brother of sleep"),[26] with the orchestra doubling the vocal parts, is regarded as an inspired masterpiece.

[41] At the end of the penultimate line, torment and dissonance are transformed into glory and harmony and illuminate the words "Denn durch dich komm ich herein / zu dem schönsten Jesulein" ("For through you I will come to my beloved Jesus").

[26] As Whittaker comments: "The voices are low-lying, the harmonies are richly solemn; it makes a hushed and magical close to a wonderful cantata.

[39] Psychologist and gerontologist Andreas Kruse [de] notes that the chorale conveys the transformation and transition from earthly life to an eternal harbour.

[51] He compares the setting to "Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein", the closing chorale of Bach's St John Passion, which is focused on sleep and awakening.

[56] An early extant recording of the Kreuzstab cantata was a live concert performance, broadcast in 1939, sung by Mack Harrell with Eduard van Beinum conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

[63] A reviewer from Gramophone wrote: "Leusink's success elsewhere comes largely through his admirably well-judged feeling for tempos and a means of accentuation which drives the music forward inexorably".

Reviewer Jonathan Freeman-Attwood from Gramophone noted that he gave a sensitive, cultivated rendition, but lacked the dramatic and emotional impact, which he found in McDaniel's 1964 recording with Werner.

[69] The baritone Thomas Quasthoff recorded them in 2004, with oboist Albrecht Mayer, members of the RIAS Kammerchor, the Berliner Barock Solisten with Rainer Kussmaul as concertmaster.