Cantata No. 4: Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4 (3rd version)

The CANTATA No. 4: CHRIST LAG IN TODES BANDEN, BWV 4, is one of the earliest church cantatas by J.S. Bach (1685-1750).  Bach wrote it for an application to a job opportunity at a Lutheran church in Mulhausen.  It is the first of his cantatas to construct its textual and melodic material on a chorale.  His first cantata for Easter Sunday, it was later revised in Leipzig in 1724 and 1725 with additional instrumental parts in order to harness the rich musical resources available to the composer.  The original version has not survived. This edition by Moritz Hauptmann was created in 1851 as part of the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (Bach Society Edition). Instrumentation: 0.0.0.0: 0.1.3.0: Org: Str (2-2-2-1-1 in set): Soli SATB: Mixed Choir.