Kantate, BWV 113 "Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut"

Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut (Lord Jesus Christ, O highest good), BWV 113, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 20 August 1724. It is based on the eight stanzas of the 1588 hymn "Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut" by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt, a penitential song.

The cantata belongs to Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the second cantata cycle during his tenure as Thomaskantor that began in 1723. Unusually for the cycle, the cantata text remains close to the chorale poetry, retaining the first, second, fourth and last stanzas unchanged and using quotations from other stanzas; the text of the fourth stanza is interspersed with contemporary lines by an unknown librettist, who also paraphrased the remaining stanzas. The first movement is a chorale fantasia, while the middle solo movements alternate arias and recitative. The work is closed by a four-part chorale setting. The cantata is scored for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes d'amore, flauto traverso, strings and basso continuo.