Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig in his second annual cycle for the fifth Sunday after Easter, called Rogate. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle of James, "doers of the word, not only listeners" (James 1:22–27) and from the Gospel of John, from the farewell discourses of Jesus, "prayers will be fulfilled" (John 16:23–30). In his second year 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. The cantata is the third of nine for the period between Easter and Pentecost based on texts of Christiana Mariana von Ziegler. Her cantatas for the period deal with "the understanding of Jesus' suffering within the context of victory and love, increasingly articulating how the tribulation of the world is overcome", according to Eric Chafe.
Librettist | Christiana Mariana von Ziegler |
Date of composition | 1725 in Leipzig, Germany |
First published | 1872 in Leipzig, Germany |
Type | Cantata |
Tonality | D Minor |
Catalogue | BWV 87 |
Approx. duration | 22 minutes |
Spoken language | German |
Instruments |
Voice (Alto)
Voice (Tenor) Voice (Bass) Chorus/Choir Oboe Oboe da caccia Strings Continuo |
Autotranslations beta |
Jean-Sébastien Bach: Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten en ré mineur, BWV 87 ""Hitherto, you have asked nothing in my Name"" Johann Sebastian Bach: Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten in re minore, BWV 87 ""Hitherto, you have asked nothing in my Name"" Johann Sebastian Bach: Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten d-moll, BWV 87 ""Hitherto, you have asked nothing in my Name"" |