<P> Some cantatas are structured as a dialogue, mostly for Jesus and the Soul (bass and soprano), set like miniature operas . Bach titled them for example Concerto in Dialogo, concerto in dialogue . An early example is Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152 (1714). He composed four such works in his third annual cycle, Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57 (1725), Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, BWV 32, Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49 (both 1726), and Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 58 (1727). </P> <P> Within the Lutheran liturgy, certain readings from the Bible were prescribed for every event during the church year; specifically, it was expected that an Epistel from an Epistle and Evangelium from a Gospel would be read . Music was expected for all Sundays and Holidays except the quiet times (tempus clausum) of Advent and Lent; the cantatas were supposed to reflect the readings . Many opening movements are based on quotations from the Bible, such as Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, from Isaiah 60: 6 . Ideally, a cantata text started with an Old Testament quotation related to the readings, and reflected both the Epistle and the Gospel, as in the exemplary Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76 . Most of the solo movements are based on poetry of contemporary writers, such as court poet Salomon Franck in Weimar, or Georg Christian Lehms or Picander in Leipzig, with whom Bach collaborated . The final words were usually a stanza from a chorale . Bach's Chorale cantatas are based exclusively on one chorale, for example the early Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, and most cantatas of his second annual cycle in Leipzig . </P> <P> The following lists of works (some marked as questioned) relies mainly on Alfred Dürr's Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach . Usually the cantatas appear in the year of their first performance, sometimes also for later performances, then in brackets . </P> <P> Bach moved to Mühlhausen in 1707 when he was 22 to take up an appointment as organist of St. Blasius church (Divi Blasii). There is evidence suggesting that he composed a cantata as an audition piece for Mühlhausen, and this may have been Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4 . One or two more surviving cantatas may have been composed while Bach was at his previous post in Arnstadt, for example, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 . </P>

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