Composed for Whitsunday, or Pentecost, which fell on May 20, 1725, Bach's Cantata No. 74 "Wer mich liebet der wird mein Wort halten" (Who loves me keeps my commandments) (BWV 74) sets a text by Marianne von Ziegler into which lines from the day's Gospel According to John are used in the first, fourth, and sixth movements and the second, third, fifth, and seventh movements comment upon the Gospel. Bach uses the final verse of a traditional Whitsunday hymn by Paul Gerhardt as the cantata's eighth movement. Additionally, the first two movements of the cantata were taken from an earlier Whitsun cantata (BWV 59), but enlarged and expanded for this cantata. The cantata is massively scored for soprano, alto, bass and tenor soloists, chorus, two oboes, oboe da caccia, strings, basso continuo, three trumpets, and tympani in the outer movements. "Wer mich liebet der wird mein Wort halten" starts in C major with its first, sixth, and seventh movements in the tonic; its second movement in the major subdominant of F major; its third in the relative minor of A minor; its fourth in the mediant minor of E minor; its fifth in the dominant of G major; but ends with its eighth and final movement in the relative minor of A minor. The first movement is a large-scale and joyous work for chorus and the full orchestra, with the four bodies of musicians—the strings, the winds, the brass, and the voices—used as distinctly different choirs. The second movement is a pastoral aria in the form of a trio sonata for soprano soloist soloist, solo oboe da caccia, and continuo. The third movement is a very brief secco recitative for alto soloist and continuo. The fourth is a virtuoso aria for bass soloist alone above the continuo. The fifth is the heart of the work, an extended tenor aria accompanied by the highly embellished first violins, plus the other strings and continuo. The sixth is a recitative for bass soloist, a pair of oboes, oboe da caccia, and continuo. The seventh movement is a forceful triple-time aria for alto soloist scored for winds, strings, and continuo. "Wer mich liebet der wird mein Wort halten" concludes with a harmonization of Gerhardt's chorale for chorus and full orchestra colla parte.

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