Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest, BWV 194

The first known performance of the cantata was at Störmthal, a village near Leipzig. The church there had been rebuilt, and a new organ been built on a commission by Statz Friedrich von Fullen. The organ was an early work by Zacharias Hildebrandt. Von Fullen requested an approval of the instrument from Johann Sebastian Bach, who was then Thomaskantor in Leipzig. Bach was satisfied and composed this cantata for the dedication service for the church and the organ on 2 November 1723. The text deals with the inauguration of the church. The organ has no solo function in the cantata. The cantata text was written by an anonymous poet, who took Solomon's prayer for the dedication of the temple as a starting point to reflect the church as the house of God. Frequent Biblical references throughout the text suggest that the author was a theologian. Scholars such as John Eliot Gardiner assume that Bach based the cantata on a lost work (), probably composed at Köthen for an unknown occasion. The music of movements 2, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 is lost, and only instrumental parts of the other movements are extant. Bach added the chorales for the 1723 dedication service. Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest shows musical similarities also to Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn, BWV 119, written for the inauguration of the Leipzig town council a few weeks earlier. == Structure and scoring ==

Bach structured the cantata in two parts of six movements each. It is scored for three vocal soloists (soprano (S), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir (SATB), and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three oboes (Ob), bassoon (Fg), two violins (Vl), viola (Va) and basso continuo. In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from the Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The instruments are shown separately for winds and strings, while the continuo, playing throughout, is not shown. == Music ==

The music has an often dance-like character. All recitatives, the majority of the solo movements, are secco, accompanied only by the continuo. Part II begins with the tenor singing a recitative and a da capo aria in a minor mode, characterized by its extensive use of dotted rhythms. A dialogue recitative for bass and soprano leads to a duet aria with oboes and continuo. After a declamatory bass recitative, the work ends with another four-part chorale setting. == Recordings ==

The entries are taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas Website. Ensembles with period instruments in historically informed performance are marked by green background. }} }} }} }} }} }} == Notes ==