' (The merry hunt is all that I love),

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...

208.2 and 208.3 both also BWV 208a, are later versions of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

's ''Hunting Cantata'', BWV 208.1, BWV 208.Works , and at

Bach Digital Bach Digital (German: ), developed by the Bach Archive in Leipzig, is an online database which gives access to information on compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and members of his family. Early manuscripts of such compositions are a major foc ...

website. Like the original

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

, which was first performed in

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

in 1713, the two later versions belong to the body of around 50 known secular cantatas by Bach. The BWV 208.2 and 208.3 versions survived as later additions to Bach's autograph score of BWV 208.1: * BWV 208.2: modifications in the manuscript score, rewriting it as a cantata in honour of Duke Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. There is no known contemporary performance date for this version. * BWV 208.3: appended

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

, text version in honour of Frederick Augustus II,

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

. This version was performed in

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on 3 August 1742. The cantata is counted among the works Bach wrote for celebrations of the

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, ''Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern''. The libretto of the original cantata was written by Salomon Franck for the occasion of the 31st birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels. Apart from text adjustments in Bach's autograph score, such as the replacement of the name "Christian" by "Ernst August", the music of the BWV 208.2 version is deemed identical (or at least near-identical) to that of the first version. The music of the BWV 208.3 version, performed on the occasion of the

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, as well as Christian communities elsewhere. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively t ...

of the Elector, also likely differed little or nothing from previous versions. Other Bach cantatas in honour of the Electors of Saxony are known, for example ''Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter'', BWV 193.1, a name day cantata written in 1727 for Frederick Augustus II's father and predecessor.

Recordings

Leipziger Universitätschor The Leipziger Universitätschor (LUC) is the university choir of the University of Leipzig. A mixed choir, it is formed by approximately 100 students from all faculties. It was founded in 1926 as Madrigalkreis Leipziger Studenten (Madrigal circle ...

/ Pauliner Barockensemble,

David Timm David Timm (born 24 April 1969) is a German pianist, organist, Conducting, choral conductor and jazz musician. Since February 2005 he has been (University Music Director) of the Leipzig University, and thus also director of the Leipziger Univers ...

. ''J. S. Bach: Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern''. Querstand, 2009.Johann Sebastian Bach: Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfesten (5 CD box)
at

website.

References

Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach {{Classical-composition-stub