Around 40 of these were composed during his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, which started after Trinity Sunday 4 June 1724, and form the backbone of his chorale cantata cycle.
The last chorale cantata he wrote in his second year in Leipzig was Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, first performed on Palm Sunday, 25 March 1725.
[3] Bach's duties as an organist included accompanying congregational singing, and he was familiar with the Lutheran hymns.
Some of Bach's earliest church cantatas include chorale settings, although he usually incorporates them into just one or two movements.
Contemporary to Bach, Christoph Graupner and Georg Philipp Telemann were composers of chorale cantatas.
[6] A week later, for Easter, he presented a revised version of the early Christ lag in Todes Banden chorale cantata.
Possibly the inspiration for starting a chorale cantata cycle in 1724 is linked to it being exactly two centuries after the publication of the first Lutheran hymnals.
On the other hand, although Bach's chorale arrangements can be tricky for amateur singers, sometimes in 21st-century performances of the cantatas and passions audience participation is encouraged.
For example, the Monteverdi Choir encouraged audience participation in a 2013 performance of the Christ lag in Todes Banden cantata.
1524[ae] Speratus 1647(c.) Crüger Decius Gastorius[ah] During his first year in Leipzig Bach presented a reworked version of his 1707 Easter cantata in Leipzig: The first four chorale cantatas presented in 1724 appear to form a set: Bach gave the cantus firmus of the chorale tune to the soprano in the first, to the alto in the second, to the tenor in the third, and to the bass in the fourth.