The cantata "Ich freue mich in dir" was first performed during Bach's second year as Thomaskantor, on the 3rd day of Christmas, and belongs to the so-called annual cycle of chorale cantatas. Here the focus of the composition is the hymn of the same name by Philipp Ziegler, in which the first and final strophes were adopted, word for word, in the first and sixth movements of the cantata.

The soprano, which carries the chorale, is supported by the conrnett (Zink), which already at this time ha...