Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213
Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed it in Leipzig on a text by Picander and first performed it on 5 September 1733. It is also known as Die Wahl des Herkules and Hercules am Scheidewege.
Friedrich Christian, for whose birthday the cantata was written
Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, BWV 248 II
Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, BWV 248II, is a 1734 Christmas cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach as the second part of his Christmas Oratorio. Bach was then Thomaskantor, responsible for music at four churches in Leipzig, a position he had assumed in 1723.
Autograph of the beginning of the Sinfonia
Maria Josepha, the dedicatee of BWV 214, in a 1720 painting by Rosalba Carriera
Angels Announcing the Birth of Christ to the Shepherds by Govert Flinck, 1639
First two pages of the libretto of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, as printed in 1734