Composed to celebrate New Year's Day 1719, Bach's Cantata No. 134a

"Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht" (The Time, the Day and Year make) (BWV 134a) is a secular serenata-cum-duo-cantata for the princely house of Anhalt-Cothen. The cantata sets a text by Christian Friedrich Hunold constructed as a duet between Time and Divine Providence in the Italian manner, with embellished arias and extravagant duets. It is scored for tenor and alto soloists, chorus, a pair of oboes, strings, and basso continuo. After Bach had secured his position at St. Thomas' in Leipzig, he took the original score for "Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht" and, with a few slight musical changes, wrote a new text beneath the original text, transforming what was once a secular serenata cantata into the sacred Cantata No. 134 "Dialogus Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiss" (The heart that truly knows Jesus) (BWV 134) for Easter Tuesday 1724. Indeed, it could be argued that the secular serenata is the superior wordsetting, capturing the sprightly spirit of the music better than the dour Lutheran text.

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