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Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187

church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ1142610 ↗
Source-derived summary

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Es wartet alles auf dich (Everything waits for You), BWV 187 in Leipzig for the seventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 4 August 1726.

The text came from a 1704 libretto cycle published in Meiningen, following a symmetrical pattern in seven movements, which opens with a quotation from the Old Testament, is focused on a central quotation from the New Testament, and ends with a closing chorale. Symmetrical recitatives and arias form the other movements. Bach set the opening as a chorus based on two verses from Psalm 104, set the central movement as a bass solo on a quotation from the Sermon on the Mount, and concluded with two stanzas from Hans Vogel's hymn "Singen wir aus Herzensgrund" in a four-part setting. The arias and recitatives are performed by three vocal soloists. The cantata is scored for a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes, strings and continuo.

Bach later used the music from four movements of this cantata for his Missa in G minor, BWV 235.

History and words

Bach wrote the cantata in 1726 for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity as part of his third cantata cycle. The prescribed readings for the Sunday are from the Epistle to the Romans, "the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:19–23), and from the Gospel of Mark, the feeding of the 4000 (Mark 8:1–9).

During 1726, Bach had performed several cantatas by his cousin Johann Ludwig Bach who worked in Meiningen, from 2 February (Purification) to 30 May (Ascension).

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187” is church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through wartet, alles and dich, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1726, 1704—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, wartet, alles and dich is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1142610. VIAF identifies the subject as 181927341. The Library of Congress control number is n88045282. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1726 and 1704.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

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  • Jurisdictional context
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Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187 primary sources, Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187 archive and wartet research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 187” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.