Johann Sebastian Bach (1685~1750) wrote "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit" (God's Time is the very best Time), BWV 106, also known as Actus Tragicus, as a sacred cantata in Mühlhausen for a funeral. The work is one of the earliest Bach cantatas. It was probably composed in 1708 in Mühlhausen, possibly as a cantata for the funeral of Mayor Strecker.

Bach was probably only 22 years old when he composed (this) the opening sonatina, in which two obbligato alto recorders mournfully echo each other over a sonorous background of viola da gambas and continuo. The cantata ranks among his most important works. Inspired directly by its biblical text, it exhibits a great depth and intensity. It is one of those art works that stands at the crossroads of time, seeming to look both forward and backwards. In the latter instance it is highly sectional, with little in the way of the extended, developed movements of the later years.

From his earliest essays into the cantata genre Bach had been attracted to the notion of making the instrumental introduction an organic part of the total composition

Although originally written for period instruments and chorus, I created this arrangement for Wind Ensemble and it is best played using the "GeneralUser GS.sf2" Soundfont by S. Christian Collins Software (http://www.schristiancollins.com/generaluser.php).