List of songs and arias by Johann Sebastian Bach
Wikimedia list of musical works by composer

Songs and arias by Johann Sebastian Bach are compositions listed in Chapter 6 of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV 439–524), which also includes the Quodlibet. Most of the songs and arias included in this list are set for voice and continuo. Most of them are also spiritual, i.e. hymn settings, although a few have a worldly theme. The best known of these, "Bist du bei mir", was however not composed by Bach.
An aria by Bach was rediscovered in the 21st century, and was assigned the number BWV 1127. Further hymn settings and arias by Bach are included in his cantatas, motets, masses, passions, oratorios and chorale harmonisations (BWV 1–438 and later additions). The second Anhang of the BWV catalogue also lists a few songs of doubtful authenticity.
Songs, arias and Quodlibet, BWV 439–524
Sacred songs and arias from Schemelli's Songbook (BWV 439–507)
The hymnal or song book known as Schemellis Gesangbuch, published 1736 in Leipzig by Georg Christian Schemelli, contained 954 hymns; 69 of these, listed here, were accompanied by a melody and a figured bass.
BWV 439 – Ach, dass nicht die letzte Stunde
BWV 440 – Auf, auf!
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This entry incorporates text from “List of songs and arias by Johann Sebastian Bach” 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.