Schleicht, spielende Wellen (Glide, O sparkling waves and murmur softly), BWV 206,[a] is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig and first performed on 7 October 1736.
History and text
Bach composed this cantata for the birthday of Augustus III of Poland and Elector of Saxony. It was first performed in Leipzig, Saxony, on 7 October 1736. A second performance took place on 3 August 1740.[1]
The librettist of the work is unknown, but was likely Picander.[1] The cantata is counted among the works Bach wrote for celebrations of Leipzig University, Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern.[2]
^The Pleiße flows through Leipzig into the Elbe, the Vistula (German: Weichsel) is the longest and largest river in Poland, and the Danube (Donau), flows through Austria, which Augustus later supported against Prussia in the War of the Austrian Succession.