Complete Bach Cantatas Vol. 19

The cantatas of volume 19 can be relegated to three groups: Four works (BWV 72, 88, 129 and 193) belong to the third Leipzig series, lasting from 1725 to 1727; five (BWV 145, 159, 171, 174 and 188) belong to the group known as the Picander cycle of 1728-29, which was not completed or has not survived complete; two works (BWV 51 and 117) belong to the period after 1730, in which Bach composed new church cantatas only sporadically. His first five years as Thomaskantor cost Johann Sebastian Bach unusual effort, as he has undertaken to compose the church cantatas appointed for each Sunday more or less by himself. He was not contractually obliged to do so, but he adhered quite strictly to this plan at least for two years and loosened it a little for the third yearly cycle, which was spread over two or three years. Even so, Bach never got stuck in a routine, as he was constantly discovering new facets of the cantata genre.