Bach wrote it in Leipzig as a "Huldigungskantate" (homage cantata) for Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.

The first version, performed on 12 January 1729, paid homage to Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels on the occasion of his visit to Leipzig.

[2][3] The dates of the later performances are not known, but the dedications were to Joachim Friedrich Count Flemming, the governor of Leipzig (words for that occasion given below), and, thirdly, to the Gönner von Wissenschaft und Kunst (Patron of Science and Art), this version is also called Sponsorenkantate, the sponsors' cantata).

[4][5] Only the soprano part and a separate printed textbook of the earliest version survived into the twentieth century.

[8] The cantata in ten movements is probably scored as the surviving O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit,[4] for soprano, flauto traverso, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo with violone and harpsichord.