A short work consisting only of an aria and a chorale, each with its own introductory recitative, this cantata seems fragmentary and probably is. Die Friede sei mit dir (Peace Be with You) exists only in a later copy that contains no indication of its date of composition or of the authorship of its text, stating only that the cantata was suitable for the third day of Easter or for the festival of Candlemas (February 2, commemorating the presentation of Christ in the temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary). However, its principal movement, the bass aria "Welt ade, ich bin dein müde" (World, goodbye, I am tired of you), is a striking piece. Accompanied by solo violin and oboe, it features, in counterpoint with the Italianate bass line, a soprano singing the chorale melody beginning with the same text as the aria. Bach's conception here, fusing the Lutheran and Italian sides of his music, points toward similar junctures in the St. Matthew Passion and other masterworks.



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