This is the only English translation of this important book by the world's most distinguished Bach scholar. This work is widely regarded as the most authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the Bach cantatas. It begins with a historical survey of the seventeenth-century background to the cantatas, and performance practice issues. The core of the book is a work-by-work study in which each cantata in turn is represented by its libretto, a synopsis of its movements, and a detailed analytical co...

• List of illustrations
• Abbreviations
• Part 1 Introduction to Bach's cantatas
• 1:History of the cantata before Bach
• 2:Development of the Bach Cantata
• 3:Performance pratice in Bach's cantatas
• Part 2 Church Cantatas
• 1:Cantatas for the church year: Advent to Trinity
• 2:Cantatas for the church year: First to Twenty-seventh Sunday after Trinity
• 3:The Marian Feasts
• 4:The Feast of St John the Baptist
• 5:The Feast of the Archangel Michael
• 6:The Reformation Festival
• 7:C...