section_path: Compositions/Cantatas
section_name: Cantatas
paragraph_text: Cantatas
  
  According to his obituary, Bach would have composed five year-cycles of sacred cantatas and additional church cantatas for weddings and funerals. Approximately 200 of these sacred works are extant, an estimated two-thirds of the total number of church cantatas he composed. The Bach Digital website lists 50 known secular cantatas by the composer, about half of which are extant or largely reconstructable.