(I am content with my good fortune) for soprano, vocal ensemble, oboe, bassoon, strings and continuo

The cantata “Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke” (I am content with my good fortune), probably composed in 1727, is one of Bach’s few sacred solo works. Theologically, it is based on the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20), which Bach and his librettist approached less as a precedence in labour law, than as a point of departure for the moral observation that the path to true contentment can only be found in submission to God’s will. In a spirit of almost cheerful humility and studied serenity, Bach succeeds in composing a veritable “Franciscan cantata”, whose modest length and sparse scoring is, in itself, a fitting formal interpretation of the text’s message.