In 1957 Fritz Wunderlich together with colleagues Friederike Sailer, Margarete Bence and August Messthaler set down complete versions of three Bach choral works - the Magnificat, the Cantata BWV 31 and the Easter Oratorio. They were recorded for Philips in France. Both, the oratorio and the cantata Der Himmel lacht, Die Erde jubilieret ('The heavens laugh, the Earth rejoices') were written for use at Easter, and together with the Magnificat are some of Bach's most joyous outpourings of sacred choral music. Then, as now, it is Wunderlich's presence on these recordings that has and probably will inspire purchasers to acquire these recordings, with the 25-year-old Wunderlich then in the full flower of his youth, shortly after his professional debut at age 25. At the time he was under contract to the W rttemberg Staatstheater in Stuttgart, and on the brink on international fame.