Church cantata

Not to be confused with the Catholic liturgical arrangement, the Missa cantata.

Title page of Membra Jesu Nostri, seven cantatas in medieval Latin by Dieterich Buxtehude, 1680

A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during Christian liturgy. The genre was particularly popular in 18th-century Lutheran Germany, with many composers writing an extensive output: Stölzel, Telemann, Graupner and Krieger each wrote nearly or more than a thousand. The best known examples, however, are those of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose output stands out not by quantity but by the high level of expertise and craftmanship which they showcase.

The bulk of extant cantatas were composed for occasions occurring in the liturgical calendar of the German Reformation era, including Passion cantatas for Good Friday, and most made reference to the content of the readings and to Lutheran hymns appropriate for the occasion. The melodies of such hymns often appeared in cantatas, for example as in the four-part settings concluding Bach's works, or as a cantus firmus in larger choral movements. Other occasions for church cantatas include weddings and funeral services. The genre was later taken up by composers such as Felix Mendelssohn.

See also

• List of church cantatas by liturgical occasion

External links

• (in French) Musique vocale sacrée section at Georg Philip Telemann (1681–1767) Catalogue TWV (www.musiqueorguequebec.ca)
• (in German) "Übersicht über die Bestimmung der Kantaten", Appendix 2, pp. 482–483 in Alfred Dürr, Yoshitake Kobayashi (eds.), Kirsten Beißwenger. Bach Werke Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe, nach der von Wolfgang Schmieder vorgelegten 2. Ausgabe. Preface in English and German. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1998. ISBN 3-7651-0249-0 – ISBN 978-3-7651-0249-3
• The Sources of Bach's works: Liturgical/secular designation of vocal works Archived 4 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine at www.bach.gwdg.de
• Free scores of Cantatas in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Sacred cantatas: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project