Thoughtless and unstable people

The cantata Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister (Frivolous flutter-spirits), BWV 181, composed for Sexagesima (the second Sunday before Lent) in 1724, has survived only incompletely. The missing obbligato instrumental part of the second aria has been reconstructed for our edition by Reinhold Kubik. It is likely that the cantata was originally performed without woodwinds; the surviving flute and oboe parts, which merely follow the first violin, are clearly later additions. The work opens with a bass aria whose staccato theme is a lively depiction of the “flutter-spirits” in the text. An uplifting final chorus (seemingly based on a secular model) with obbligato trumpet ends this chorale-free cantata.