Cantata no. 161: Komm, du süsse Todesstunde, BWV.161

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Komm, du süße Todesstunde (Come, you sweet hour of death), BWV 161, in Weimar for the 16th Sunday after Trinity, probably first performed on 27 September 1716.

Bach had taken up regular cantata composition two years before when he was promoted to concertmaster at the Weimar court, writing one cantata per month to be performed in the Schlosskirche, the court chapel in the ducal Schloss. The text of Komm, du süße Todesstunde, and of most other cantatas written in Weimar, was provided by court poet Salomon Franck. He based it on the prescribed gospel reading about the young man from Nain. His text reflects on longing for death, seen as a transition to a life united with Jesus. The text includes as a closing chorale the fourth stanza of the hymn "Herzlich tut mich verlangen" by Christoph Knoll.