# Previously Unknown Bach Vocal Piece To Be Performed For The First Time.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/previously-unknown-bach-vocal-piece-to-be-performed-for-the-first-time/307446>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 8, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/previously-unknown-bach-vocal-piece-to-be-performed-for-the-first-time/307446 "2005-06-08T13:08:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/previously-unknown-bach-vocal-piece-to-be-performed-for-the-first-time/307446/1 "2005-06-08T13:08:27Z")

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A piece of Vocal music, to be accompanied by harpsicord, & written by Bach, has been discovered after a museum fire.  
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4071142.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4071142.stm)

> [@](#):
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> The piece is a musical accompaniment to a 12-verse poem composed for the Duke of Saxony in 1713.
> 
> Plans are being made for the first performance, under the English conductor Sir John Elliot Gardiner.

> **[Forgotten Bach aria turns up in shoebox](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/08/arts.artsnews3)**
>
> Experts authenticate piece for soprano and harpsichord composed to mark Weimar patron's birthday.

> [@](#):
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> Bach, then the court organist in Weimar, penned the composition to go with a 12-stanza poem dedicated to the duke, but its existence was swiftly forgotten. The manuscript was apparently swept away into a box, together with numerous other poems and letters written to celebrate the duke’s 52nd birthday.

May we assume it isn’t “Happy Birthday To You”?

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/previously-unknown-bach-vocal-piece-to-be-performed-for-the-first-time/307446/2 "2005-06-08T17:31:39Z")

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This find is cool, but what gets me is that only something like a third of Bach’s cantatas have survived (correct me if I’m wrong). Surely there were some irrecoverable gems among them.