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.

He wrote to supplement his income from tutoring and continued even after obtaining regular employment as a civil servant.

For a year from the start of Advent 1724 Picander had published spiritual poetry in weekly editions, which he collected in 1725 as Sammlung Erbaulicher Gedanken.

[1][2] All volumes of Picander's Ernst-schertzhaffte und satyrische Gedichte (Leipzig, 1727–51) contain texts set to music by J. S. Bach, including those for the St Matthew Passion and its associated funeral music for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen (Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a).

Picander was able to help the composer in this process by providing metrically similar new texts, effectively setting words to Bach's music.