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Bach composed Cantata 123 ‘Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen’ for 6 January 1725, Epiphany Sunday. This feast commemorates both the manifestation of Christ to the three kings, and his later appearance at the wedding at Cana where he turned water into wine. ‘Epiphaneia’ is the Greek word for appearance, and in the first verse of the text, sung by the choir, this appearance is anticipated: ‘Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, Du meiner Seelen Heil, komm nur bald!’. This opening chorus is dominated by the orchestra, the choir beginning (with the chorale melody in the soprano part) after an instrumental introduction of no less than 20 bars. The choral writing is simple and homophonic, contrasting with the polyphonic texture of the instrumental parts. The orchestral introduction is repeated as a final ritornello. Two recitative-aria pairs follow, after which the work ends with a mildly rocking chorale in 3/2 time. Of great beauty is the slow, somewhat chromatic tenor aria in F sharp minor, in which the
