Composed for the Jubilate Sunday, the third Sunday after Easter, which fell on April 22, 1725, Bach's Cantata No. 103 "Ihr werdet weinen und heulen" (You shall be weeping and wailing) (BWV 105) sets a text by Marianne von Ziegler with the opening movement taken from the day's Gospel According to John 16: 20 and the closing chorale melody by Paul Gerhardt from 1653. The cantata is scored for bass, tenor and alto soloists, and chorus, plus a colorful orchestra of trumpet, piccolo, a pair of oboe d'amore, strings, and basso continuo. "Ihr werdet weinen und heulen" powerfully begins in bleak B minor with its third movement in the minor dominant of F sharp minor and its second movement ending on the dominant. But the tonality of the cantata shifts in its fourth movement, which starts in B minor but closes in the relative major of D major, thereby preparing the way for the D major tonality of the fifth movement and the A major, the dominant of D major, in the closing movement. The tonal plan supports Ziegler's text, which moves from pain and suffering in its first half to comfort and joy in its second half. The first movement of "Ihr werdet weinen und heulen" essentially is a massive choral fugue, but with elements of a concerto with a demanding obbligato piccolo solo and with a brief but anguished Adagio Arioso for bass soloist accompanied by a desiccated orchestra interpolated two-thirds of the way through the movement. The second movement starts as a secco recitative for tenor soloist and continuo, but becomes a very brief arioso in its final bars. The third movement is an aria in the form of a trio sonata for alto soloist with solo violin and a piccolo playing in unison above a staccato e piano continuo. The fourth movement is a brief and very dry secco recitative for alto soloist and continuo, except for an ecstatic setting of the word Freude (Joy). The fifth movement is a dancing aria for tenor soloist, string orchestra, and continuo, with an extensive virtuoso part for solo trumpet. "Ihr werdet weinen und heulen" concludes with a strong harmonization of Gerhardt's chorale for chorus and full orchestra colla parte.

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