The three cantatas conducted by John Eliot Gardiner share the fact that they were all written to be performed on the third Sunday after Easter. Thanks to his years as a court composer in Weimar and later as Kantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig—positions that required writing music for liturgical celebrations—Bach composed a considerable number of Cantatas for the same liturgical period. Although not all of them have been preserved, the three included in this program are an excellent representation. The first, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12, was premiered in Weimar in 1714, the year Bach was appointed Konzertmeister of the Weimar court. The other two, Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103, and Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal, BWV 146, premiered in Leipzig in 1725 and 1726 respectively, display much greater instrumental richness, since Bach had access to professional musicians and singers. The Leipzig period was the longest and most fruitful of his career, as he lived there from 1723 until his death in 1750. There, as Kantor of St. Thomas Church and musical director of other churches, he composed a large part of his liturgical works, including the Passions.