Bach composed this cantata inLeipzig between 1726 and 1727 for an unknown occasion. The text is drawn from the work ofChristian Friedrich Hunold.[1] Hunold and Bach are assumed to have met,[2] but the librettist died in 1721, which is well before the cantata appears to have been composed.
The openingrecitative is harmonically active but melodically fragmented because of the unusual choice to set balanced couplets in recitative. The firstaria is characterized by a "restless feeling of effort" beginning immediately after the short instrumentalritornello, and is the only one inda capo form. The second recitative is the only one to beaccompagnato, with the strings supporting a harmony that "begins to slide around like quicksand". The second aria has a flowing ritornello theme provided by continuo and obbligato violin. The third recitative issecco with "two bursts of operatic virtuosity". The third aria is internary form and minor mode. The fourth recitative includes anarioso passage ending on an "exceedingly odd" cadence. The final movement is the only one to include all instrumental parts, with a dance-like opening theme and an ABAB structure.[2]
