Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt (God so loved the world), BWV 68, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the second day of Pentecost. Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig and first performed it on 21 May 1725. It is one of nine cantatas on texts by Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, which Bach composed at the end of his second annual cycle of cantatas in Leipzig. In a unique structure among Bach's church cantatas, it begins with a chorale and ends with a complex choral movement on a quotation from the Gospel of John. Bach derived the two arias from his Hunting Cantata.

Original Name Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt
Librettist Salomo Liscow (1640-1689) (No.1) Christiana Mariana von Ziegler (1695-1760) (Nos.2-4) Bible (John 3:18) (No.5)
Date of composition 1725 in Leipzig, Germany
Premiered 1725, May 21st in Leipzig, Germany
First published 1853 (in part?) 1868 (BGA)
Dedicated to 2nd day of Pentecost (Whit Monday)
Type Sacred Cantata
Tonality D Minor
Catalogue BWV 68
Spoken language German
Instruments 2x Voice
Chorus/Choir
Orchestra
Links
Autotranslations beta Jean-Sébastien Bach: God so loved the world en ré mineur, BWV 68
Johann Sebastian Bach: God so loved the world in re minore, BWV 68
Johann Sebastian Bach: God so loved the world d-moll, BWV 68