Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134

BWV 134
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
Nikolaikirche, Leipzig, 1749 engraving
Related	based on BWV 134a
Occasion	Third day of Easter
Performed	: Leipzig
Movements	6
Vocal	SATB choir solo: alto and tenor
Instrumental	2 oboes 2 violins viola continuo

(A heart that knows its Jesus is living), BWV 134, is a church cantata for Easter by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata for the third day of Easter in Leipzig and first performed it on 11 April 1724. He based it on his congratulatory cantata , first performed in Köthen on 1 January 1719.

History and words

The cantata is Bach's second composition for Easter in Leipzig. On Easter Sunday of 1724, he had performed , from his time in Mühlhausen. On the second day of Easter was the first performanbce of , which he had derived from the secular serenata , composed in Köthen in 1718. In a similar way, he arranged a cantata for the New Year's Day of 1719 in Köthen, , for the third day of Easter.

The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the Acts of the Apostles, the sermon of Paul in Antioch (Acts 13:26–33), and from the Gospel of Luke, the appearance of Jesus to the Apostles in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36–47). The unknown poet adapted the dialogues of the secular work of two allegorical figures, Time and Divine Providence, originally written by Christian Friedrich Hunold, one of the notable novelists of his time. In this cantata the poet kept the order of the movements, dropping movements 5 and 6 of the early work. He kept the final chorus as a conclusion, unlike , where it had been moved to the opening and replaced by a chorale. Bach simply wrote the new text below the former text in his score.

Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance at the Nikolaikirche on 11 April 1724. He composed three new recitatives for a second version and first performed it on 27 March 1731. Bach revised the whole cantata 1735, writing a new score with detailed improvements. Matching parts for this version are missing, and it is thus unclear if it was actually performed at the time.

Scoring and structure

The cantata in six movements is scored for alto and tenor soloists, a four-part choir, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.

1. Recitative (alto, tenor): Template:Langr
2. Aria (tenor): Template:Langr
3. Recitative (alto, tenor): Template:Langr
4. Aria (alto, tenor): Template:Langr
5. Recitative (alto, tenor): Template:Langr
6. Chorus: Template:Langr

Recordings

• J. S. Bach: 10 Festkantaten, Helmut Winschermann, Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke, Deutsche Bachsolisten, Julia Hamari, Kurt Equiluz, Philips 1971
• Die Bach Kantate Vol. 30, Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helen Watts, Adalbert Kraus, Hänssler 1977
• J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 7, Gustav Leonhardt, Knabenchor Hannover, Collegium Vocale Gent, Leonhardt-Consort, René Jacobs, Marius van Altena, Teldec 1983
• Bach Made in Germany Vol. 4 – Cantatas VII, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, Thomanerchor, Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum, Ortrun Wenkel, Peter Schreier, Eterna 1984
• J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 10, Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Michael Chance, Paul Agnew, Antoine Marchand 1998
• J. S. Bach: Vol. 22, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, Daniel Taylor, James Gilchrist, Soli Deo Gloria 2000
• J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 18 – Cantatas from Leipzig 1724, Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Robin Blaze, Makoto Sakurada, BIS

References

Cited sources

• Dellal, Pamela (2026). "BWV 134 – Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
• Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). "1.23 Easter Tuesday". The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford University Press. pp. 281–285. ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
• Leonard, James. Cantata No. 134, Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiss, BWV 134 at AllMusic
• Rimek, Tobias (Fall 2014). "Bach / Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß / The soul that truly knows his risen Lord / BWV 134" (PDF). Translated by Kosviner, David. Carus. p. 1―4. Retrieved 7 April 2026.

External links

• Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß [early version] BWV 134; BC A 59a / Sacred cantata Bach Digital
• Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß [later version] BWV 134; BC A 59b / Sacred cantata Bach Digital
• Cantata BWV 134 Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß on the Bach Cantatas Website
• Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 49 BWV 134 Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum". The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
• BWV 134 Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß University of Vermont