For the Third Day of Christmas of 1723, Bach's Cantata No. 64 "Sehet, welch eine Liebe" (Behold, what manner of love) (BWV 64) begins with a verse from the Gospel according to John (3, 1), sets chorales by Martin Luther in its second movement, by Balthasar Kindermann in its fourth movement, and by Johann Franck in its eight and final movement. The anonymous text for the remaining movement expands on the typically Lutheran notion that the world is itself irredeemably sinful and that only through the intercession of Jesus can one be redeemed. The cantata is scored for alto, soprano and bass soloists, chorus, oboe d'amore, coronet, a trio of trombones, strings, and basso continuo. The "Sehet, welch eine Liebe" is in E minor with its opening and closing movements in the tonic; its second, sixth, and seventh movements in the relative major of G major; its third in the subdominant of A minor; its fourth in D major (the relative major of the minor dominant and the dominant of the relative major); and its fifth in the minor dominant of B minor. The cantata starts with an unusual pairing of movements: the first is a choral fugue on a six-bar subject that leads an attaca to the austere choral setting of the second movement. The third movement is a recitative for alto with ascending scales in the continuo, followed by the chorale setting of the fourth movement. The fifth movement is a da capo aria for soprano with extravagant embellishments from the first violin accompanied by the lower strings and continuo. The sixth movement is a nearly declamatory secco recitative for bass and continuo. The seventh movement is a second da capo aria in the form of a trio sonata in 6/8 time, with the soprano soloist and the oboe d'amore in a duet above the continuo. The cantata concludes with a severe harmonization of Franck's chorale, itself a paraphrase of the chorale tune Jesu, meine Freude for the entire chorus and orchestra.

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