Composed in Weimar for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, which fell on October 25, 1716, Bach's Cantata No. 162 "Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe" (Ah! I see, now, that I have gone to the feast) (BWV 162) sets a text by Salomon Franck from 1715 in its first five movements with a final chorale by Johann Rosenmüller from 1652. The cantata was originally scored for bass, tenor, soprano, and alto soloists and chorus, strings, and basso continuo, but when Bach performed it in Leipzig in 1723, he added a slide trumpet to the outer movements. "Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe" is in dour A mino, with its first and last movements in the tonic; its second movement ending in the minor subdominant of D minor, the tonality of the third movement; and its fourth starting in A minor, but it end in the relative major of C major, the tonality of the fifth movement. The first movement is a fully scored da capo aria for bass soloist, strings, and continuo. The second is a secco recitative for tenor soloist and continuo. The third is a leanly scored but lushly embellished da capo aria for soprano soloist and ornate continuo. The fourth is a secco recitative for alto soloist and continuo that becomes more ornate in its closing bars. The fifth is a consoling aria duetto in the form of a trio sonata for alto and tenor soloist and continuo. "Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe" concludes with a subdued harmonization of Knoll's chorale for chorus and full orchestra colla parte.

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