Composed for Quinquagesima Sunday, which fell on February 11, 1725, Bach's Cantata No. 127 "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" (Lord Jesus Christ, who came as man and God) (BWV 127) sets a choral hymn by Paul Eber in its first and last movements while its central movements set a paraphrase of Eber's hymn by an unknown writer. The cantata is scored for tenor, alto and bass soloists, chorus, a tromba da caccia, pairs of recorders and oboes, strings, and basso continuo. "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" is in F major with its first and second movements in the tonic, its third movement in the minor dominant of C minor, its fourth ending in C minor, and its fifth starting in the tonic and ending on the dominant of C major. The first movement is a chorale fantasia for chorus and orchestra, with the recorders and oboes taking the lead in the musical argument. The second is a secco recitative for tenor soloist and continuo. The third is a very unusual da capo aria for soprano soloist, strings, pairs of recorders, solo oboe, strings, and sempre pizzicato continuo. The movement starts with the oboe singing a lament under the repeated tolling notes of the recorder. When the soprano joins, the movement becomes an achingly sad duet; when the pizzicato strings join, the movement becomes intensely dramatic. The fourth movement is an equally unusual hybrid movement marked Recitativo und Aria for bass soloist, strings, continuo, and solo trumpet. It starts as a common time recitative with the impassioned bass singing against insistent repeated notes in the strings and trumpet; it changes to a tumultuous aria in 6/8 for bass, trumpet, and strings and returns to a common time recitative for a bass and continuo. It moves back to the furious 6/8 aria, returns once more to a brief recitative, and concludes with the final furious aria. "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" concludes with a highly chromatic harmonization of Eber's chorale for chorus and full orchestra colla parte.

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