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Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German pronunciation: [joˈhan] or [ˈjoːhan zeˈbastjan ˈbax]) (31 March 1685 [O.S. 21 March] – 28 July 1750) (often referred to as Bach) was a German composer and an organist, whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the...
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Goldberg Variations
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, are a set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. First published in 1741 as the fourth in a series Bach called Clavier-Übung, "keyboard practice", the work is considered to be one of...
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The Musical Offering
The Musical Offering (German title Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a musical theme by Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the...
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Cello Suites
The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. They were most likely composed during the period 1717–1723, when Bach served as a Kapellmeister in Cöthen.
The...
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Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust
Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust (Contented rest, beloved soul's desire) is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works, it is BWV 170. The words used are drawn from Georg Christian Lehms' Gottgefälliges...
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Widerstehe doch der Sünde
Widerstehe doch der Sünde (Stand steadfast against transgression), BWV 54, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The texts are drawn from Georg Christian Lehms' Gottgefälliges Kirchen-Opffer (1711) and concern the importance of avoiding sin.
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Geist und Seele wird verwirret
Geist und Seele wird verwirret (Spirit and soul become confused), BWV 35, is a sacred cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was composed in Leipzig in 1726 for the twelfth Sunday after Trinity, which fell that year on 8 September, date of...
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- 1726
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Gott soll allein mein Herze haben
Gott soll allein mein Herze haben (God all alone my heart shall master) is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works, it is BWV 169. The author of the text, which is based on Matthew 22:34-46, is unknown....
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Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich BWV 150 (For Thee, O Lord, I long) is an early Lutheran choral cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach composed for an unknown occasion. It is scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, choir and a small orchestra of...
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Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier (Das Wohltemperierte Klavier in the original German), BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. He first gave the title to a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor...
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Brandenburg concertos
The Brandenburg concerti by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1746–1751, original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments) are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 ...
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Mass in B Minor
The Mass in B minor (BWV 232) is a musical setting (or more formally a missa tota) of the Latin Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach. Although parts of the Mass in B minor date to 1724 (and model for one parody even to 1714), the whole was assembled in its...
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- 1749
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The Art of Fugue
The Art of Fugue or The Art of the Fugue (original German: Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV 1080, is an incomplete masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). The work was most likely started at the beginning of the 1740s, if not earlier. The first...
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Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1703 and 1707. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire, and has been used in a variety of popular media...
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Violin Concerto in A minor
The Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041, was composed by Johan Sebastian Bach in 1748.
The piece has three movements:
The motifs of the theme of the Allegro moderato appear in changing combinations and are separated and intensified throughout the...
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Violin Concerto in E major
The Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042, by Johann Sebastian Bach is a concerto for violin, strings and continuo in 3 movements:
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Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir
Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (We thank you, God, we thank you) is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works, it is BWV 29.
The piece was written for the occasion of the election of a new town...
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Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut
Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut (My Heart Swims in Blood) is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works, it is BWV 199. The bulk of the text, which concerns a sinner finding redemption through God, is taken...
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Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
The title Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach refers to either of two manuscript notebooks that the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his second wife Anna Magdalena. Keyboard music (minuets, rondeaux, polonaises, chorales,...
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Double Violin Concerto
The Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and Continuo in D Minor, BWV 1043, also known as the Double Violin Concerto, is perhaps one of the most famous works by J. S. Bach and considered among the best examples of the work of the late Baroque period....
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- 1731
Matthäuspassion
The St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, also known as Matthæus Passion (German: Matthäuspassion), is a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander (Christian...
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- St. Matthew Passion (English Baroque Soloists feat. conductor: John Eliot Gardiner) ,
- St. Matthew Passion (Philharmonia Orchestra feat. conductor: Otto Klemperer)
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Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (How beautifully shines the morning star), BWV 1, is a sacred cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was composed in Leipzig in 1725 for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which occurs...
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Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ
Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ (Hold in remembrance Jesus Christ), BWV 67, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The work was written for performance on April 16, 1724, the first Sunday after Easter (Quasimodogeniti). It thus belongs to the first...
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Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, also known as Sleepers, Wake, is a cantata premiered on November 25, 1731 by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is scored for horn, 2 oboes, taille (an instrument similar to the oboe da caccia, today often...
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Ich habe genug
Ich habe genug (I have enough) is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works, it is BWV 82.
It was written in Leipzig for the Feast of the Purification on 2 February 1727. The Purification commemorates an...
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Sonatas and partitas for solo violin
The Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) are a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. They consist of three sonatas da chiesa, in four movements, and three partitas, in dance-form movements.
The set was completed by 1720...
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- 1720
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Solo Violin Partita No. 2
The Partita in D minor for solo violin (BWV 1004) by Johann Sebastian Bach was written during the period 1717–1723 and some scholars—Professor Helga Thoene prominently—suggest it was written in memory of Bach's first wife, Maria Barbara Bach. The...
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- 1723
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein (Oh God, look down from heaven), BWV 2, is a sacred cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was composed in Leipzig in 1724 for the second Sunday after Trinity, which occurred that year on 18 June, which marks...
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Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid [I] (Oh God, how much heartache [I]), BWV 3, is a sacred cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was composed in Leipzig at the end of 1724 for the second Sunday after Epiphany of 1725, which occurred that year...
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Christ lag in Todesbanden
Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lay in death's bonds), also written Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was written for Easter, probably in 1707, and it is probably related to Bach's move from Arnstadt to...
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Wo soll ich fliehen hin
Wo soll ich fliehen hin (Where shall I flee), BWV 5, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was written in Leipzig for the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, and was first performed on 15 October 1724. It is based on a chorale of the same name by...
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Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden
Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden (Stay with us, for evening falls), BWV 6, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was written in Leipzig for Easter Monday, and was first performed on 2 April 1725. It is based on chorales by Nikolaus...
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Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam
Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam (Christ our Lord came to the Jordan), BWV 7, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was written in Leipzig for the Feast of John the Baptist, and was first performed on 24 June 1724. It is based on a chorale of...
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Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?
Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? (Dearest God, when will I die?), BWV 8, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was written in Leipzig for the sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, and was first performed on 24 September 1724. It is based on a...
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Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her (It is our salvation come here to us), BWV 9, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Johannes Brahms also wrote a motet of the same name based on the same text.
It was written in Leipzig for the sixth Sunday after...
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Meine Seel erhebt den Herren
Meine Seel erhebt den Herren (My soul magnifies the Lord), BWV 10, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was written in Leipzig for the Feast of the Visitation of Mary, and was first performed on 2 July 1724. Large sections of the text are taken...
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Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582) is an organ piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Presumably composed early in Bach's career, it is one of his most important and well-known works, and an important influence on 19th and 20th century passacaglias...
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Orgelbüchlein
The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") was written by Johann Sebastian Bach during the period of 1708–1714, while he was court organist at the ducal court in Weimar. It was planned as a set of 164 chorale preludes (smaller-scale compositions based...
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Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Praise God in All Lands), BWV 51, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is thought to date from around 1730, and is one of Bach's best known cantatas.
The piece is written for solo soprano, trumpet, violins, violas...
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Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen ("Weeping, lamenting, worrying, fearing"), BWV 12, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The cantata originates from Bach's Weimar period. It was first performed in the Weimar court chapel on the third Sunday after...
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Italian Concerto
The Italian Concerto, BWV 971, original title: Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto (Concerto after the Italian taste), published in 1735 as the first half of Clavier-Übung II, along with the Overture in the French style, is a three-movement concerto...
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- 1735
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht ("Be still, stop chattering") (aka The Coffee Cantata) (BWV 211) is a secular cantata written by Johann Sebastian Bach between 1732 and 1734. Although classified as a cantata, it is essentially a miniature comic opera...
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Eight Short Preludes and Fugues
The Eight Short Preludes and Fugues are a collection of works for keyboard and pedal, previously attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. They were believed for a long time to have been composed by one of Bach's pupils, Johann Tobias Krebs, based on...
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Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachtsoratorium) BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier...
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Ihr werdet weinen und heulen
Ihr werdet weinen und heulen (BWV 103) is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, composed for Jubilate (the third Sunday after Easter) in 1725.
The work, to a text by German poetess Christiane Marianne von Ziegler (1695–1760), is scored for bass...
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Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft
Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft (BWV 50) is a choral movement long attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach and assumed to be part of a lost cantata. The piece is written for an unusually large orchestra, indicating that it was composed for a special...
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Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl
Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl (Let, Princess, let still one more glance) is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works it is BWV 198.
It was written at the request of the University of Leipzig...
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Partitas for keyboard
The Partitas, BWV 825–830, are a set of six harpsichord suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach, published from 1726 to 1730 as Clavier-Übung I, and the first of his works to be published. They were among the last of his keyboard suites to be...
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- 1730
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Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life) is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. In Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's works, it is BWV 147.
It was written in Leipzig for the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and...
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Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540
The Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540 is an organ work written by J.S. Bach. The toccata is thought to be written after 1714, and the fugue before 1731. It is thought by some that Bach joined together two previously separate pieces to create...
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Jesu, meine Freude
Jesu, meine Freude is a motet composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. The full title of the work is Motet No. 3 in E minor, BWV 227.
There are six authenticated funeral motets (BWV 225-230) written for St Thomas's Church, Leipzig between 1723-7. A...
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Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is the English title of the 10th movement of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. A transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess (1890–1965) was published in 1926 for...
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Jesu, der du meine Seele
Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata Jesu, der du meine Seele (Jesus, Thou who my soul), BWV 78, was composed in 1724 for the 14th Sunday after Trinity. The text, by an unknown librettist, is based on a hymn by Johann Rist. The cantata is in seven...
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English Suites
The English Suites, BWV 806–811, are a set of six suites written by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach for harpsichord and generally thought to be the earliest of Bach's 19 suites for keyboard, the others being the 6 French Suites, BWV 812...
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- 1715
French Suites
The French Suites, BWV 812-817, refer to six suites which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) between the years of 1722 and 1725 . The suites were later given the name 'French' (first recorded usage by Friedrich...
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Johannes Passion
The Johannes Passion (English: St. John Passion) is a musical composition by Johann Sebastian Bach. During the first winter that Bach worked at Leipzig, he composed the St. John Passion. He wrote it for the Good Friday Vespers service of 1724.
The...
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Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!
Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!, BWV 214, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, composed to honor the birthday of Maria Josepha, Queen of Poland and Electress of Saxony. It is also known as Glückwünschkantate zum Geburtstage der Königin....
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Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen
Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen ("Praise God in his kingdoms," also known as the "Ascension Oratorio", BWV 11) is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was probably composed in 1735, with text presumably by Picander. In the Bach-Gesamtausgabe (BGA)...
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Magnificat
The Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, is one of the major vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach. It was composed for an orchestra, five-voice choir and five soloists. The text is the canticle of Mary, mother of Jesus as recounted by Luke the Evangelist...
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Gott ist mein König
Gott ist mein König (God is My King), BWV 71, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It was performed for the first time at the inauguration of the new city council at Mühlhausen on 1708-02-04. The librettist is unknown. There has been speculation,...
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Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt (German: "Just like the rain and snow falling from the sky" (heaven could also be used to replace sky), BWV 18) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was composed for Sexagesima Sunday,...
