Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The merry hunt is all that I love),BWV 208.2 and 208.3 both also BWV 208a, are later versions ofJohann Sebastian Bach'sHunting Cantata, BWV 208.1, BWV 208.[1] Like the originalcantata, which was first performed inWeißenfels in 1713, the two later versions belong to the body of around 50 knownsecular cantatas by Bach.[1] The BWV 208.2 and 208.3 versions survived as later additions to Bach's autograph score of BWV 208.1:[1][2]
The cantata is counted among the works Bach wrote for celebrations of theLeipzig University,Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern.[3]
The libretto of the original cantata was written bySalomon Franck for the occasion of the 31st birthday ofDuke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels.[1] Apart from text adjustments in Bach's autograph score, such as the replacement of the name "Christian" by "Ernst August", the music of the BWV 208.2 version is deemed identical (or at least near-identical) to that of the first version.[1] The music of the BWV 208.3 version, performed on the occasion of thename day of the Elector, also likely differed little or nothing from previous versions.[1][4] Other Bach cantatas in honour of the Electors of Saxony are known, for exampleIhr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter, BWV 193.1, a name day cantata written in 1727 for Frederick Augustus II'sfather and predecessor.
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