Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein in G major, BWV 128

Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the feast of the Ascension. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus telling his disciples to preach and baptize, and his Ascension (Acts 1:1–11), and from the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:14–20). In his second year in Leipzig, Bach had composed chorale cantatas between the first Sunday after Trinity and Palm Sunday, but for Easter returned to cantatas on more varied texts, possibly because he lost his librettist. Nine of his cantatas for the period between Easter and Pentecost are based on texts of Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, including this cantata. Bach later inserted most of them in his third annual cycle, but kept this one and BWV 68 for Pentecost in his second annual cycle, possibly because they both begin with a chorale fantasia like the chorale cantatas, whereas many of the others begin with a bass solo as the vox Christi.