The church cantatas of Bach are the most important works he composed. They represent a life long work at a genre that was the center of his compositional career. In 1723 he set out to compose five complete cycles of church cantatas but fell short and finished nearly three. Many have been lost. The Lutheran cantata was a work of several sections set to passages of scripture or poetry written specifically for the Sundays of the church year. They were all based around a chorale, a Lutheran hymn which usually is found at the end of the cantata where the congregation would join in, singing the chorale tune.

Cantata #51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen. is one of Bach�s best known and one of his finest in the genre. It is also one of Bach�s few cantatas written for solo voice and orchestra. It is an exceptional work for its extraordinary vocal writing for both the voice and trumpet. As women were not allowed to sing and perform in church it has been wondered who might have been capable of such daring vocal writing in a church work. Bach often complained bitterly of the lack of musicianship of the boys in his choirs. It is thought that a mature male singer, a counter-tenor, may have been the prized soloist.