Composed for the Second Sunday after Trinity, which fell on June 6, 1723, Bach's Cantata No. 76 "Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes" (The Heavens Are Telling the Glory of God) (BWV 76) was his second cantata composed in Leipzig. In every way, it is one of Bach's largest cantatas: in two parts of seven movements each, it lasts longer in performance than almost any other cantata and is scored for a large orchestra of trumpet, oboes and oboe d'amore, viola da gamba, strings, and basso continuo with tenor, soprano, bass and alto soloists, and chorus. "Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes" has three choruses, the first setting verses from Psalm 19 and the second and third setting chorales by Martin Luther, with a text for the remaining movements by an unknown poet elaborating on the message of the Psalm. "Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes" starts in celebratory C major with its first, second, fourth, fifth, and eleventh movements in the tonic and its third movement in the dominant of G major. But the cantata's tonality shifts to the mediant of E minor in its sixth, seventh, eighth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth movements and the ninth and tenth movements are in the mediant's subdominant of A minor. The cantata opens with one of Bach's grandest chorale fantasia with the solo trumpet leading the full orchestra, chorus, and soloists. This is followed by a recitative for tenor, strings, and continuo; a large-scale soprano aria in the form of a trio sonata with concertante violin; a bass secco reiterative, a bass aria with trumpet and strings; an alto secco reiterative; and closing with a huge setting of Luther's chorale for the entire chorus and orchestra. The second part of the cantata opens with an old-fashioned sinfonia in the form of a trio sonata for oboe d'amore, viola da gamba, and continuo. The remaining movements of the second part are all relatively brief: a bass recitative with strings and continuo, an impassioned tenor aria with obbligato organ and viola da gamba, an alto recitative that becomes an arioso followed by an alto aria in the form of a trio sonata which, like the opening movement of the second part, is accompanied by oboe d'amore, viola da gamba, and continuo. "Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes" concludes with a repetition of the chorale that closed its first part.

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