"My sighs, my tears". A call to the troubled and anxious to turn to God in prayer: He will not fail to help.

"My dear Jesus is lost". Mary and Joseph despaired when the boy Jesus was lost to them in Jerusalem (Luke 2), and rejoiced at finding Him. Likewise, the soul to whom Jesus is lost because of sin and unbelief must despair, but rejoices when it learns again to trust Jesus’ word of promise.

"All those from Sheba shall come". As the wise men from the East came to worship Jesus with their gifts (Matthew 2), Christians, too, are called to offer themselves to Jesus in the confidence that He will graciously receive us.

"The newborn little child". This is a chorale cantata based on a 16th-century Christmas hymn, rejoicing that Jesus’ coming into the world has taken away the condemnation of our sins and opened the way to paradise.

"Prepare the ways, prepare the paths!" A call to repentance and faith in anticipation of the coming of Christ to judge the world.

A chorale cantata paraphrasing and meditating on the ancient Advent hymn, "Saviour of the Nations Come".

"Soar joyfully aloft". Based on Psalm 24, this cantata in the promised coming of Christ, who is the King of Glory.

A prayer anticipating the coming of the Saviour of the world. Based on the ancient Advent hymn, "Saviour of the Nations, Come".

"Wake, awake, for night is flying". Perhaps the greatest of all the cantatas, based on one of the greatest Lutheran hymns, by Philipp Nicolai. Based on the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25), its subject matter is the love between, and the approaching wedding feast of, Christ and the Church.

"Watch! Pray! Pray! Watch!" Since Jesus will soon return to judge the living and the dead, and our lives can end at any moment, Christians ought to be watchful and diligent in prayer - and joyfully confident in the joy Jesus has prepared for them.