The Advent cantata Machet die Tore weit has long been one of the most frequently performed of Telemann’s sacred works. Among the copies of this cantata which have been handed down is a copy by J. S. Bach which bears testimony to the high respect he paid to his then more celebrated colleague from Hamburg: It is a copy of the score in the hand of the Thomaskantor which was made for a performance in Leipzig on Avent Sunday in 1734 (therefore during the same period as the first performance of Bach’s...