Composed: 1730
Duration: 12 minutes

At the centre of Bach’s life was music for worship in the Lutheran church, and at the core of that music were the cantatas. After his appointment as Music Director of the Leipzig churches in 1723, he composed one or more cantatas for each Sunday of the Lutheran church year as well as for the festivals – Christmas, Easter, Whitsun, and so on. The cantatas were performed as part of the principal service for the day; each cantata was based on the Gospel text for the day, and in most cases included one or more solo arias, musical settings of contemporary poems of a contemplative nature. Over 200 cantatas have come down to us, of a total of perhaps 500. They comprise the largest category of Bach’s musical legacy.

Cantata No. 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, is a jubilant cantata for solo soprano. Although the words are not linked to any specific biblical text, it seems likely that it was intended for Michaelmas, probably in 1730. Bach must have had an exceptionally able soprano soloist (almost certainly a boy) as well as a superb trumpeter that year. The music requires a singer of operatic virtuosity. An unusual feature of this cantata is the concluding chorale, which is given to the soloist instead of the choir, followed by a brilliant Alleluia in the style of a concerto movement for the two soloists.