The captivating history of successive versions of Bach’s Schwingt freudig euch empor cantata is in a way a link between celebrations of several important figures of the eighteenth-century communities of Leipzig and Köthen. In the Grand Hall of the Wrocław Town Hall, a variant of this composition will be performed – namely, a piece entitled Die Freude reget sich. The musicians of Wrocław Baroque Ensemble will play it during a special concert marking the seventieth birthday of Maestro Andrzej Kosendiak – their leader and artistic director of the Andrzej Markowski International Festival Wratislavia Cantans. As always, the ensemble will be conducted by the Jubilarian himself.

The grandiose of the occasion is also reflected in Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele. This wonderfully orchestrated chorale cantata unfolds the image of a heavenly banquet, inspired by the parable from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, which was cited during the service for which Bach’s composition was intended. The vision of a joyful celebration is linked with the theme of the Eucharist. The theme of the text gave some parts of the work an almost dance-like character.

The tale of Die Freude reget sich begins with the spring of 1725, which was when Johann Sebastian Bach wrote Schwingt freudig euch empor – a cheerful secular cantata. This composition was to be performed to honor the birthday of an otherwise unnamed Leipzig professor. A year and a half later, on November 30, 1726, in nearby Köthen, the composer once again used this composition, though now refreshed with a new text. The honoree on that occasion was Princess Charlotte Friederike von Nassau-Siegen. Between 1725 and 1730, Bach worked on a liturgical, expanded version of the work. He made a connection between the joyful character of the cantata with the description of the crowds greeting Christ upon his entry into Jerusalem – a passage from the Gospel according to St. Matthew read during the liturgy of the first Sunday of Advent. The final version of the cantata – i.e. Die Freude reget sich, chosen for Maestro’s jubilee celebration – was created in 1735 for a scholar from the Leipzig family of Rivinus. One of the family members was even the godfather of the artist’s youngest son, Johann Christian, later known as “The English Bach”.