Bach had taken up regular cantata composition two years before when he was promoted to concertmaster at the Weimar court, writing one cantata per month to be performed in the Schlosskirche, the court chapel in the ducal Schloss. The text of Komm, du süße Todesstunde, and of most other cantatas written in Weimar, was provided by court poet Salomon Franck. He based it on the prescribed gospel reading about the young man from Nain. His text reflects on longing for death, seen as a transition to a life united with Jesus. The text includes as a closing chorale the fourth stanza of the hymn "Herzlich tut mich verlangen" by Christoph Knoll.

Date of composition 1716
Premiered 1716, September 27th in Weimar, Germany
Dedicated to 16th Sunday after Trinity Feast of Purification of Mary
Type Sacred Cantata
Tonality C Major
Catalogue BWV 161
Instruments 2x Voice
Chorus/Choir
Orchestra
Links
Autotranslations beta Jean-Sébastien Bach: Komm, du süsse Todesstunde en do majeur, BWV 161
Johann Sebastian Bach: Komm, du süsse Todesstunde in do maggiore, BWV 161
Johann Sebastian Bach: Komm, du süsse Todesstunde C-dur, BWV 161