CD 1:
O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210 - Wedding Cantata
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211 - Coffee Cantata

CD 2:
Sinfonia in F major, BWV 1046a/1
Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208 - Hunt Cantata — Dramma per musica
Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a - Serenata

CD 3:
Durchlauchtster Leopold - Serenata, BWV 173a
Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202 - Wedding Cantata
Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36c - Birthday cantata for a teacher
Quodlibet, BWV 524 (Fragment)

CD 4:
Zerreißet, zersprenget, zertrümmert die Gruft - Der zufriedengestellte Äolus — Dramma per musica, BWV 205
Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten - Dramma per musica, BWV 207

CD 5:
Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns wachen, BWV 213 - Herkules auf dem Scheidewege — Dramma per musica
Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! BWV 214 - Dramma per musica

CD 6:
Lass, Fürstin, lass noch einen Strahl, BWV 198
Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde - aria, BWV 53
Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, BWV 1083 - after the ‘Stabat Mater’ by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

CD 7:
Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212 - Cantate burlesque
Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209 - Farewell cantata for a scholar
Amore traditore, BWV 203

CD 8:
Schleicht, spielende Wellen, und murmelt gelinde - Dramma per musica, BWV 206
Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen - Dramma per musica, BWV 215

CD 9:
Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde - Dramma per musica. Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan, BWV 201
Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten - Dramma per musica, BWV 207a

CD 10:
Angenehmes Wiederau, freue dich in deinen Auen - Dramma per musica, BWV 30a
Ich bin in mir vergnügt, BWV 204 - Cantata von der Vergnügsamkeit

In 1995 Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan began the monumental task of recording J.S. Bach’s extant church cantatas – an adventure that was brought to a close 18 years later. But Bach also composed a number of cantatas for secular occasions of which some twenty works have survived intact. Released on individual discs between 2004 and 2018, Masaaki Suzuki’s recordings of these works have now been gathered in a box set, available as a limited edition.

The secular cantatas were written (both the texts and the music) for special events in the family, social, academic or political calendar – a wedding, a birthday celebration, an academic ceremony or a tribute to a prince. Although they were normally only performed once in their original form, Bach was keen to reuse material from them, if the opportunity arose. The best-known examples of using secular arias and choruses with new sacred texts are found in the Christmas Oratorio, for which Bach drew extensively on three festive cantatas written for the Prince-Elector of Saxony and his family.

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Recordings: July 2003 - July 2017. Includes a 156-page booklet in English, German and French, with track listings and an essay by Dr Klaus Hofmann & the texts of the cantatas in German, with English translations. Limited Edition!