('Awake, calls the voice to us'),

As the text and its eschatological themes are also associated with Advent, the cantata is commonly performed during that season.

Publication

The cantata was published in 1881 as part of the first complete edition of the composer's work, the Bach Gesamtausgabe.

Music

Structure and scoring

Bach structured the cantata in seven movements. The text and tune of the hymn are kept in the outer choral movements and the central movement, set as two chorale fantasias and a four-part closing chorale, which frame two sequences of recitative and aria.

Cited sources

Further reading

  • Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)
  • Cantata BWV 140 – Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Johann Sebastian Bach) ChoralWiki
  • BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme: English translation, University of Vermont
  • Luke Dahn: Cantata BWV 140, Wachet auf The Bach Choir of Bethlehem