Steigt freudig in die Luft, BWV 36a
lost secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach
Steigt freudig in die Luft (Soar joyfully in the air), BWV 36.2 (formerly BWV 36a), is a lost secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig and first performed it in Köthen on 30 November 1726.
History and text
Bach composed the cantata while living in Leipzig. He retained a role as court composer to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, for whom he had worked full-time in the period 1717–1723. The cantata was written for the 24th birthday of the prince's second wife, Princess Charlotte Friederike Amalie of Nassau-Siegen on 30 November 1726, the date of the work's premiere.
The text, divided into nine movements, is by Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander), who published it in his Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte, Teil I of 1727. The text is adapted from an earlier congratulatory cantata, presumably authored by Picander, for which Bach's music survives.
Aria: Steigt freudig in die Lufft zu den erhabnen Höhen
Recitative: Durchlauchtigste
Aria: Die Sonne zieht mit sanfften Triebe
Recitative: Die Danckbarkeit
Aria: Sey uns willkommen, schönster Tag!
Recitative: Wiewohl das ist noch nicht genung
Aria: Auch mit gedämpfften schwachen Stimmen
Recitative: Doch ehe wir
Aria: Grüne, blühe, lebe lange
Scoring and structure
Although the cantata is lost, we have some idea of what it sounded like. When Bach wrote for a one-off occasion such as a birthday, he sometimes recycled the music in another composition.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1998448. VIAF identifies the subject as 296949559. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1726, 1717, 1723 and 1727.
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This entry incorporates text from “Steigt freudig in die Luft, BWV 36a” 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.