First Performance of BWV 7

Date: June 24, 1724 • Location: Rome, Italy

On the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Bach led the first performance of Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, the third cantata of his chorale cantata cycle.

The Nativity of John the Baptist (or Birth of John the Baptist, or Nativity of the Forerunner, or colloquially Johnmas or St. John's Day is a Christian feast day. It is observed annually on 24 June. The Nativity of John the Baptist is a high-ranking liturgical feast, kept in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism. The sole biblical account of the birth of John the Baptist comes from the Gospel of Luke.