Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata (It is our salvation come here to us), It is a chorale cantata, based on the hymn "" by Paul Speratus. Bach composed the cantata to fill a gap in his chorale cantata cycle written for performances in Leipzig from 1724.

The cantata is structured in seven movements, framed as the earlier chorale cantatas by a chorale fantasia and a chorale four-part setting, of the first and the twelfth stanza in the original words by the reformer Speratus, published in the First Lutheran hymnal. The theme is salvation from sin by God's grace alone. An anonymous librettist paraphrased the content of ten inner stanzas to alternating recitatives and arias. Bach scored the cantata for a chamber ensemble of four vocal parts, flauto traverso, oboe d'amore, strings and continuo. He gave all three recitatives to the bass, like a sermon interrupted in reflection by a tenor aria with solo violin and a duet of soprano and alto with the wind instruments.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity in 1734. It filled a gap in his second annual cycle of chorale cantatas written for performance in Leipzig. In 1724, when he composed the cycle, he had an engagement in Köthen that Sunday, and therefore left the text for later completion.

  • Es ist das Heil uns kommen her BWV 9; BC A 107 / Chorale cantata (6th Sunday after Trinity) Bach Digital
  • BWV 9 Es ist das Heil uns kommen her English translation, University of Vermont
  • Bach among the Conservatives / The Quest for Theological Truth. Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Rebecca Joanne Lloyd, King's College London, p. 84 (of 200)
  • Luke Dahn: BWV 9.7 bach-chorales.com