Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Du Hirte Israel, höre

Du Hirte Israel, höre (You Shepherd of Israel, hear), BWV 104, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for the second Sunday after Easter. Bach composed the work as part of his first cantata cycle for Leipzig and first performed it on 23 April 1724. The topic of the cantata, based on the prescribed reading from the Gospel of John, is Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The unknown librettist quoted and referred to related Biblical passages including the psalms. Bach structured the work in six movements and used pastoral music to illustrate the topic. The outer choral movements are an extended chorus, setting a verse from Psalm 80, and a four-part closing chorale of a hymn paraphrasing Psalm 23. Bach set the inner movements as alternating recitatives and arias. He scored the cantata for two vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of a variety of oboes, strings and continuo.