Bach had written significant vocal works during the 1730s at Frankfurt and in 1749 at Berlin, but not until the late 1750s did he begin his self-transformation into a serious composer for the voice. He would complete only one more large vocal work before his departure for Hamburg in 1768; this was the Easter Music of 1756, what we would call a cantata, comparable to the church works of his father and older brother. Until then he had also been occasionally writing strophic lieder, but the number of these would soon increase drastically, and for the rest of his life Bach would be the most important and one of the most prolific song composers in German-speaking Europe.

Bach's songs were a response to the same social and cultural changes that favored his increased output of small keyboard pieces. They also reflected intellectual currents during the 1750s in Berlin, which saw much discussion of relationships between words and music. This discussion presumably took place not only in print, in the literary and musical journals that now flourished under editors such as Marpurg, but in conversations in Berlin's clubs and salons. That Bach was a frequent visitor and sometime host at gatherings where music and poetry were discussed is clear from references in the correspondence of various musicians and literary figures.