Editing Cantata (section)

==Differences from other musical forms==
{{Listen|filename=Wo ist doch.ogg|title=''Wo ist doch mein Freund geblieben'', BuxWV 111 |description=A sacred cantata by [[Dieterich Buxtehude]]|filename2=Bach, BWV 147, 10. Jesus bleibet meine Freude.ogg|title2=10. Chorale: ''Jesus bleibet meine Freude''|description2=From the cantata [[Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147|''Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'', BWV&nbsp;147]] by Johann Sebastian Bach (Orchestra Gli Armonici)}}
The Italian solo cantata tended, when on a large scale, to become indistinguishable from a scene in an [[opera]], in the same way the church cantata, solo or choral, is indistinguishable from a small oratorio or portion of an oratorio. This is equally evident whether one examines the church cantatas of Bach, of which nearly 200 are extant (see [[List of Bach cantatas]]) or the ''[[Handel at Cannons#Chandos Anthems|Chandos Anthems]]'' of Handel. In Johann Sebastian Bach's case, some of the larger cantatas are actually called oratorios, and the ''[[Christmas Oratorio]]'' is a collection of six church cantatas actually intended for performance on six different days, though together they form as complete an artistic whole as any classical oratorio.