There are three cantatas for this Sunday.
Readings:
Philippians 3:17–21, "our conversation is in heaven"
Matthew 22:15–22, the question about paying taxes, answered by Render unto Caesar...
Cantata Studies:
Bach Cantatas Website | Simon Crouch | Emmanuel Music | Julian Mincham | Wikipedia | Eduard van Hengel (in Dutch) | Bach Companion (Oxford U.P.) | Bach: The Learned Musician (Wolff) | Music in the Castle of Heaven (Gardiner)
[Titian, The Tribute Money, 1516-18]
Cantatas:
Aria for Tenor, Nur jedem das Seine!
Recitative for Bass, Du bist, mein Gott, der Geber aller Gaben
Aria for Bass, Laß mein Herz die Münze sein
Duet (Arioso) for Soprano and Alro, Ich wollte dir, O Gott, das Herze gerne geben
Duet (Aria) for Soprano and Alro, Nimm mich mir und gib mich dir!
Chorale, Führ auch mein Herz und Sinn
"To each his own!"
Text & translation
Scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass, and two violins, viola, two cellos and continuo.
This is one of the best cantatas Bach wrote in Weimar. The text is by Salomo Franck, the Weimar court poet who was also a numismatist in charge of the ducal coin collection and, not surprisingly, wrote often about money. His libretto gives the answer to the Pharisees' question: "The heart is the coin of the tribute rightly due to God, but often a false image is stamped on it". The cantata opens with the tenor aria "To each his own", which can be seen as a paraphrase of the injunction to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's". Earthly authorities are not presented as wise rulers, but as an incorrigible vice, that must be accepted in a world filled with invoices and accounts.
After the bass asks "Isn't this counterfeit?" the same singer continues with the aria "Let my heart be the coin," an aria uniquely accompanied by the deep sonority of two obbligato cellos. This is followed by a duet recitative and a duet aria for soprano and alto. The aria is a "love duet" to the text "Take me from myself and give me to you," characterized by devotion to God rather than carnal desire. The movement becomes more richly textured as it progresses, with the addition of a chorale melody.
Of the final movement, the usual chorale setting, only the continuo line survives. As the sixth and final movement of this cantata, Franck included a stanza from a hymn by Johann Heermann, according to the printed libretto the final stanza of "Wo soll ich fliehen hin" (1630). The music of this chorale is lost; only the continuo part survives. Recent scholarship has suggested that Bach may have set a verse from Heermann's "Meinen Jesus lass ich nicht" instead, in a melody he used instrumentally in the 5th movement, which would match the continuo part.
[The Baroque Schlosskirche (court chapel) in Weimar, built 1619 to 1630,
with the organ above the altar, by Christian Richter, c. 1660]
Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott, BWV 139, 12 November 1724
Chorale: Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott
Aria (tenor): Gott ist mein Freund; was hilft das Toben
Recitative (alto): Der Heiland sendet ja die Seinen
Aria (bass): Das Unglück schlägt auf allen Seiten
Recitative (soprano): Ja, trag ich gleich den größten Feind in mir
Chorale: Dahero Trotz der Höllen Heer!
"Fortunate the person who upon his God"
Text & translation
Scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, two oboes d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
This cantata is not about paying taxes, but is inspired by the rejection of earthly things for the world of heaven in this Sunday's other reading from Philippians. The cantata is based on the hymn in five stanzas by Johann Christoph Rube (1692) and sung to the melody by Johann Hermann Schein "Machs mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt" (1628). It survives only in an incomplete set of parts in Leipzig.
The opening chorus is a chorale fantasy. It has a complex structure: on the chorale melody sung as cantus firmus by the sopranos, the other voices and instruments build several episodes of concertante character. In the following tenor aria, the words of the first line, "Gott ist mein Freund," recur. The bass aria, with solo violin and oboes d'amore in unison, is in rondo form and alternates in tempo between Andante and Vivace.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)
Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht, BWV 52, 24 November 1726
Sinfonie
Recitative: Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht
Aria: Immerhin, immerhin, wenn ich gleich verstoßen bin
Recitative: Gott ist getreu
Aria: Ich halt es mit dem lieben Gott
Chorale: In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr
"False world, I don't trust you"
Text & translation
Scored for a soprano soloist, a four-part choir (only for the final chorale), two horns, three oboes, bassoon, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Solo cantata for soprano (in Bach's time always sung by a child soprano). The unknown poet takes from the readings the idea that the world is false and that man should concentrate on God. The cantata begins with an orchestral sinfonia, followed by two contrasting pairs of recitatives and arias, the first describing the wickedness of the world, the second the faithfulness of God. The varied instrumentation provides a colorful contrast to the lone soloist and the relative simplicity of the text.
The cantata uses the first movement of the First Brandenburg Concerto as its sinfonia (as other solo cantatas of the period recycle concerto movements). The soprano is accompanied by two violins in the austere first aria (which portrays the soul as beset by falsehood and worldly hypocrisy), and by three oboes in the second aria of a dance-like character (a polonaise). In this beautiful aria, all is warmth and generosity - it is a response to the previous aria, now expressing confidence in Christ's benevolence.
The final chorale, the first stanza of a hymn by Adam Reusner, In dich habe ich gehofft, Herr (1533), brings back the brilliance of the two horns from the first movement to close the work.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)