Overview
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, for use in a Lutheran service. He composed this chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1725 for the feast for the Purification of Mary, which is celebrated on 2 February and is also known as Candlemas. The cantata is based on Martin Luther's 1524 hymn "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin" and forms part of Bach's chorale cantata cycle, written to provide Sundays and feast days of the liturgical year with cantatas based on a related Lutheran hymn.
Libretto
Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin
In Gottes Willen;
Getrost ist mir mein Herz und Sinn,
Sanft und stille;
Wie Gott mir verheißen hat,
Der Tod ist mein Schlaf worden.