Cantata no. 75: Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV.75
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Die Elenden sollen essen (The miserable shall eat), BWV 75, for the first Sunday after Trinity. He led its first performance in Leipzig on 30 May 1723, his first Sunday in the position of Thomaskantor. The complex work is in two parts, each consisting of seven movements, and marks the beginning of his first annual cycle of cantatas.
Bach composed the cantata at a decisive turning point in his career. After various positions in churches and courts, he assumed the post of Thomaskantor in Leipzig on the first Sunday after Trinity, performing this cantata. In taking this job he in fact became responsible for the church music in four churches of Leipzig, and he began the ambitious project of composing a new cantata for every occasion of the liturgical year.
Movements
- Coro "Die Elenden sollen essen"
- Recitativo (Bass) "Was hilft des Purpurs Majestät"
- Aria (Tenor) "Mein Jesus soll mein alles sein!"
- Recitativo (Tenor) "Gott stürzet und erhöhet"
- Aria (Sopran) "Ich nehme mein Leiden mit Freuden auf mich"
- Recitativo (Sopran) "Indes schenkt Gott ein gut Gewissen"
- Choral "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan"
- Sinfonia
- Recitativo (Alt) "Nur eines kränkt ein christliches Gemüte"
- Aria (Alt) "Jesus macht mich geistlich reich"
- Recitativo (Bass) "Wer nur in Jesu bleibt"
- Aria (Bass) "Mein Herze glaubt und liebt"
- Recitativo (Tenor) "O Armut, der kein Reichtum gleicht!"
- Choral "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan"