vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir (SATB) in the closing chorale, two violins (Vl), viola (Va), bassoon (Fg), cello (Vc) and basso continuo (Bc). The bassoon is called for, but has no independent part. The duration is given as about 15 minutes. In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, and the abbreviations for voices and instruments the list of Bach cantatas. The keys and time signatures are taken from the Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The instruments are shown separately for winds and strings, while the continuo, playing throughout, is not shown. Movements The cantata consists of solo movements closed by a four-part chorale. Arias alternate with two recitatives, both sung by the bass. John Eliot Gardiner summarizes: "It is a true sermon in music, based on the Gospel account of Jesus' night-time conversation with Nicodemus on the subject of 'new life', emphasising the spiritual importance of baptism." He points out the many musical images of water. 1 In the first aria, "" (O bath of Holy Spirit and of water), the ritornello is a fugue, whereas in the five vocal sections the soprano and violin I are a duo in imitation on the same material. These sections are composed in symmetry, A B C B' A'. The theme of B involves an inversion of material from A, that of C is derived from measure 2 of the ritornello. Dürr writes: 2 The first recitative, "" (The sinful birth of the cursed heirs of Adam), is secco, but several phrases are close to an arioso. The musicologist Julian Mincham notes that Bach follows the meaning of the text closely, for example by "rhythmic dislocations for death and destruction", a change in harmony on "poisoned", and "the complete change of mood at the mention of the blessed Christian". He summarizes: "Here anger and resentment at Man’s inheritance of suppurating sin is contrasted against the peace and joy of God-given salvation". 3 The second aria, "" (Jesus, who out of great love), accompanied by the continuo, is dominated by an expressive motif with several upward leaps of sixths, which is introduced in the ritornello and picked up by the alto voice in four sections. Mincham notes that "the mood is serious and reflective but also purposeful and quietly resolute". 4 The second recitative, "" (I have