On 2 March 1714 Bach was appointed concertmaster of the Weimar court capelle of the co-reigning dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. As concertmaster, he assumed the principal responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the Schloßkirche (palace church), on a monthly schedule. Bach composed the cantata for Easter Sunday in 1715. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the First letter to the Corinthians, "Christ is our Easter lamb" (1 Corinthians 5:6–8), and from the Gospel of Mark, the Resurrection of Jesus (Mark 16:1–8). The text was written by the Weimar poet Salomon Franck who published it in Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer (Evangelical Offering of Prayers). The verses consist purely of free poetry and interpret the Easter message, connected to the request to believers to let Jesus also be resurrected within their souls. The final movement, the last verse of the chorale "Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist" (When my hour is come) by Nikolaus Herman, expresses the desire to die, to follow Jesus in resurrection.
Original Name | Der Himmel lacht! die Erde jubiliert |
Librettist | Salomo Franck (1659-1725) (Nos.1-8) Nikolaus Herman (ca.1480-1561) (No.9) |
Date of composition | 1724 (1715, rev. 1724) |
First published | 1857 (BGA) |
Dedicated to | Easter Sunday |
Type | Sacred Cantata |
Tonality | C Major |
Catalogue | BWV 31 |
Spoken language | German |
Instruments |
3x
Voice
Chorus/Choir Orchestra |
Links | |
Autotranslations beta |
Jean-Sébastien Bach: Heaven laughs! Earth exults en do majeur, BWV 31 Johann Sebastian Bach: Heaven laughs! Earth exults in do maggiore, BWV 31 Johann Sebastian Bach: Heaven laughs! Earth exults C-dur, BWV 31 |