The cantata was scored for four vocalist soloists: •
Diana,
soprano I •
Pales, soprano II •
Endymion,
tenor •
Pan,
bass The instrumental parts comprised two
horns, two recorders, two oboes,
taille, bassoon, two violins, viola, cello,
violone, and continuo. Recorders are appropriate for their pastoral associations and horns for their hunting associations. So far as is known, it is Bach's earliest work featuring horns. He is assumed to have been writing for horn players employed at the Weissenfels court, where there was a tradition of brass playing. There has been speculation that the cantata opened with a sinfonia (
BWV 1046a), which has similar scoring to the cantata and is an early version of
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major (BWV 1046). The sinfonia seems to be intended for more able horn players than required for the cantata, and may have been composed later, but it appears in some recorded versions of the cantata, for example those of
Goodman and
Suzuki. The work has fifteen movements: • Recitative: '''' (in F major/B flat major, for soprano I with continuo) • Aria: '''' (in F major, for soprano I with 2 horns and continuo) • Recitative: '''' (in D minor, for tenor with continuo) • Aria: '''' (in D minor, for tenor with continuo) • Recitative: '''' (in B flat major/C major, for soprano I and tenor with continuo) • Recitative: '''' (in A minor/G major, for bass and continuo) • Aria: '''' (in C major, for bass with 2 oboes, taille and continuo) – music reused for Aria 4 in
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68 • Recitative: '''' (in F major/G minor, for soprano II with continuo) • Aria: '''', a.k.a. "Sheep May Safely Graze" (in B flat major, for soprano II with 2 recorders and continuo) • Recitative: '''' (in F major, for soprano I with continuo) • Chorus: '''' (in F major, for sopranos I and II, tenor, bass with 2 horns, 2 oboes, taille, bassoon and cello in unison, cords, violone and continuo – Oboe 1 with violin 1, oboe 2 with violin 2, taille with viola; cello with bassoon, violone with continuo) • Aria (duet): '''' (in F major, for soprano I and tenor with violin solo and continuo) • Aria: '''' (in F major, for soprano II and continuo) – music reused for Aria 2 in
BWV 68 • : 13a.
Trio in F major, BWV 1040: instrumental movement based on the continuo theme of Aria No. 13. Listed as a separate composition in the first version of the BWV catalogue, this Trio was appended again to the cantata (as a postlude?) in the 1998 version of that catalogue, as it is in Bach's autograph. • Aria: '''' (in F major, for bass with continuo) • Chorus: '''' (in F major, for soprano I and II, tenor, bass with 2 horns, 2 oboes, taille, bassoon, cords, cello, violone and continuo) – music reused for Chorus 1 in
BWV 149. == Arrangements ==