Recordings/Discussions
Background Information
Performer Bios

Poet/Composer Bios

Additional Information

Texts & Translations: Main Page | Cantatas BWV 1-50 | Cantatas BWV 51-100 | Cantatas BWV 101-150 | Cantatas BWV 151-200 | Cantatas BWV 201-224 | Other Vocal BWV 225-249 | Chorales BWV 250-438 | Geistliche Lieder BWV 439-507 | AMN BWV 508-524 | Other Vocal 1081-1164 | BWV Anh | Chorale Texts | Emblemata | Sources | Poets & Composers
Discussions: Texts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Translations: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4


Texts & Translations of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works
Sources for the Original German Text & the Respective Translations

Original German Text

German-1: The Bach Cantatas - Original Texts
Webmaster: Walter F. Bischof

German-2: Johann Sebastian Bach - The Complete Cantatas Project [no longer available]
The links on the BCW point to the versions of this site on the Internet Archive from June-August 2004
Webmaster: Jan Koster

German-3: Libretti of the Cantatas and Other Vocal Works [not linked from cantata pages]
Webmaster: Lyle K. Neff, Indiana University

German-4: Johann Sebastian Bach – i testi [not linked from cantata pages]
Webmaster: Gianni Soro

German-5: German Texts of Non-Bach & Lost Cantatas [Bach Cantatas Website]
Webmaster: Aryeh Oron

German-6: Bach Digital

German-7: Göttinger Bach-Katalog [no longer available]
According to Dr. Christine Blanken from Bach-Archiv Leipzig, The Göttinger Bach-Katalog has been fully replaced by Bach Digital. The Metadata were transferred to Bach Digital and unfortunately some years ago the Göttingen server was closed (September 2022).

NBA Text: Bach Cantatas Website, from Cantata texts based on the NBA
Webmaster: Nagamiya Tutomu

German Translations

German-7: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Francis Browne

   

English Translations

English-1: Texts of the Complete Vocal Works, with English Translation and Commentary
Translator: Z. Philip Ambrose

English-2: Johann Sebastian Bach - The Complete Cantatas Project
Translator: Jan Koster

English-3: Bach Cantatas Website [Interlinear/Parallel Format]
Translator: Francis Browne

English-4: Alexandre Henrique Hohmann - Bach Pages [including original texts; no longer available]
The links on the BCW point to the versions of this site on the Internet Archive from January-February 2004.
Translator: Alexandre Henrique Hohmann

English-5: San Francisco Bach Choir Home Page [including original texts, some partial; no longer available]
The links on the BCW point to the versions of this site on the Internet Archive from 2003-2005.
Translator: ?

English-6: Emmanuel Music - Bach Cantata Translations [including original texts]
Translator: Pamela Dellal

English-7: The Lied and Song Texts Page [singable translations, only one aria from each work]
Translator: Ebenezer Prout

English-8: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Paul H. Farseth

English-9: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Various

English-10: Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity > Now on Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Tobin Schmuck

English-11: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Alexandra Glynn

English-12: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Laurenthia Mesh

English-13: BachCantataTexts.org
New English translations of the texts of J.S. Bach's vocal music are based on the historical language and theology of Bach's time.
Translators: Michael Marissen & Daniel R. Melamed

English-14: Bach Cantatas Website [Parallel Format]
Translator: John Kaye Gottschall

 

Arabic Translations

Arabic-1: Translator: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Tamer Massalha

 

Catalan Translations

Catalan-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Antoni Sàbat i Aguilera

Catalan-2: Traduccions al Català de les Cantates Religioses de J.S. Bach [not linked from the cantata pages]
Translators: Josep Serra & Rosa Fàbregas

 

Chinese Translations

Chinese-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator:Yang Jingfeng

Chinese-2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator:Chen-Hanson Ting

Chinese-3: 翻译论坛
Translator:?

 

Danish Translations

Danish-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Bente Marie Braarud

Danish-2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Peter Wemmelund

 

Dutch Translations

Dutch-0: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Mostly Ria van Hengel; some by others edited by her

Dutch-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translators: Dick Wursten, Peter Bloemendaal

Dutch-2: Bach cantaten gesortseerd op BWV-nummer [Walter F. Bischof Website; no longer available]
The links on the BCW point to the versions of this site on the Internet Archive from 2005-2015.
Translators: Léon P.B. Habets, Tanja Luinge

Dutch-3: Bach Cantatas Website
Translators: Eduard van Hengel, Ria van Hengel, Andre Stuivenberg, Alice Bij de Vaate, Leo de Leeuw, Rob over de Linden, Kees Bogaard

Dutch-4: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Henk Pijlman

Dutch-5: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Janny Kisteman

Dutch-6: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Jaap H. van der Laan

Dutch-7: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Henk Beindorff

Dutch-8 : Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Bert Rooze

Dutch-9: Bach Cantatas Website
Translators: Kees Boogaard & Rob over de Linden

Dutch-10: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Unknown translator

Dutch-11: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Jaap van der Does

 

French Translations

French-1: Cantates arrangées par numéro BWV [Walter F. Bischof Website; no longer available]
The links on the BCW point to the versions of this site on the Internet Archive from January-April 2005.
Translator: Walter F. Bischof

French-2: J.S. Bach [no longer available]
The links on the BCW point to the versions of this site on the Internet Archive from April 2004.
Translator: Christophe Chazot

French-3: Les cantates de Bach en Français [Bach en Combrailles; no longer available]
The links on the BCW point to the versions of this site on the Internet Archive from June 2004.
Translator: Christophe Chazot

French-4: Bach Cantatas Website [Note to Note Format]
Transcription en français des textes mis en musique par Jean-Sébastien Bach [with the possibility of hearing the music]
Translator: Jean-Pierre Grivois

French-5: Bienvenu à bachoque.ch !
Translator: Marc Seiler

French-6: Bach Cantatas Website [Interlinear Format]
Translators: Guy Laffaille / Walter F. Bischof

French-7: Bachoque.ch [not linked from the cantata pages]
Marc Seiler

 

Greek Translations

Greek-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Jerassimos Coidan

 

Hebrew Translations

Hebrew-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translators: Aryeh Oro, Irit Schoenhorn

Hebrew-2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Galia Regev

Hebrew-3: Bach Cantatas Website
Translators: Others

Hebrew-6: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Sharon Rosner

Hebrew-7: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Benny Gershon

Hebrew-8: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Benny Hendel

 

Hungarian Translations

Hungarian-1, Hungarian-3: Bach Cantatas Website | Kantáta szövegek, ismertetők, kották (Lutherania) [Word Documents]
Translator: Various translators

Hungarian-2: Bach Cantatas Website | Purcell Choir - Orfeo Orchestra [Word Documents]
Translator: Various translators

 

Indonesian Translations

Indonesian-1: Bach Cantatas Website [Word-for-Word Format]
Translator: Rianto Pardede

 

Italian Translations

Italian-1: Johann Sebastian Bach - The Complete Cantatas Project
Translator: Jan Koster

Italian-2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Emanuele Antonacci

Italian-3: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Riccardo Pisano

Italian-4: Bach Cantatas Website
Translators: Riccardo Nughes / Vittorio Marnati

Italian-5: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Alberto Lazzari

Italian-6: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Stafano Lecce

Italian-7: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Antonio Viglino

Italian-8: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Giampiero Innocente

 

Japanese Translations

Japanese-2: Hideo Kobayashi Bach Site [including original texts]
Translator: Hideo Kobayashi

Japanese-3: Translations by Junshiro Kawabata [not linked from cantata pages]
Translations by Junshiro Kawabata [PDF, not linked from cantata pages]
Translator: Junshiro Kawabata

Japanese-4: Translations by Tafelmusik Kamakura [not linked from cantata pages]
Translator: Tafelmusik Kamakura

Japanese-5: Translations by Bachkreis Kobe [Interlinear format; not linked from cantata pages]
Translator: Bachkreis Kobe

Japanese-6: Bach Cantatas Website + Bach-Chor Tokyo
Translator: Emiko Ohmura

 

Norwegian Translations

Norwegian-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Ragnar Grøm

 

Polish Translations

Polish-1: Kantaty Jana Sebastiana Bacha po polsku
Translators: Filip Adam Zieliński, Armin and Andrzej Teske, Professor Mirosław Perz; Paweł Piszczatowski Ph.D.

Polish-2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Filip Adam Zieliński

 

Portuguese Translations

Portuguese-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Rodrigo Maffei Libonati

Portuguese-2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Leonardo Santos

Portuguese -2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Laura Rónai

 

Romanian Translations

Romanian-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Razvan Georgescu

Romanian-2: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Liviu Simionescu

 

Russian Translations

Russian-1: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Peter Meshcherinov

Russian-3: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Igor Sivkov

 

Spanish Translations

Spanish-1 Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: José Mª Translator: Pajares Box

Spanish-2: Juan Sebastián Bach (1685 - 1750) [KAREOL] [including original texts]
Translators: Tente González, Eduardo Almagro, Francisco Such Ronda, Jesús Iragui-Yoldi, Juan Castón, Enrique Alcacer, Francisco López Hernández, Jesús Cuevas, Jaime Goyena

Spanish-3: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Francisco López Hernández

Spanish-4: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Lorenzo Conejo

Spanish-5: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Carlos Casabona

Spanish-6: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Alberto Hernández Cabrera

Spanish-7: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: Saúl Botero-Restrepo

Spanish/English-8: Bach Cantatas Website
Translator: John Kaye Gottschall

 

Sources for Biographies of Librettists & Hymn-Writers of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

BBKL: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon [German]. Webmaster: Verlag Traugott Bautz

CCELL: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Webmaster: Calvin College

Cyber Hymnal: The Cyber Hymnal - Dedicated to the Glory of God

ELHHB: Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary Handbook - Biographies and Sources. Webmaster: Bethany Lutheran College

GC: Gospelcom.net - A Ministry of Gospel Communication

HL: Das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon [German]

JEK: James Kiefer's Christian Biographies. Webmaster: James Kiefer

 

Prepared by Aryeh Oron (March 2001 - October 2023)