Siehe zu, daß deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei, BWV 179


composed the church cantata Siehe zu, daß deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei, 179 in Leipzig for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 8 August 1723.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata in his first year in Leipzig, which he had started after Trinity of 1723, for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, on the gospel of Christ and Paul's duty as an apostle, and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The unknown poet stayed close to the gospel and alluded to several Bible passages. The cantata is opened by a line from. the closing chorale is the first stanza of Christoph Tietze's hymn "Ich armer Mensch, ich armer Sünder".
Bach first performed the cantata on 8 August 1723. Alfred Dürr assumes that Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199, composed for the same occasion in Weimar, was also performed in the service.

Scoring and structure

The cantata in six movements is scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes da caccia, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
  1. Chorus: Siehe zu, daß deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei
  2. Recitative : Das heutge Christentum ist leider schlecht bestellt
  3. Aria : Falscher Heuchler Ebenbild
  4. Recitative : Wer so von innen wie von außen ist
  5. Aria : Liebster Gott, erbarme dich
  6. Chorale: Ich armer Mensch, ich armer Sünder

    Music

In the opening chorus the instruments go with the voices as in a motet. The words are set in a strict counter-fugue: each entrance is followed by an entrance in inversion. The sequence is concluded by a canonic imitation on a new theme: in the words "und diene Gott nicht mit einem falschen Herzen" the falseness is expressed by chromatic. A second expanded fugue presents even more complex counterpoint than the first.
A secco recitative prepares the aria with an accompaniment of the two oboe da caccia and violin I in syncopation, which even the tenor voice picks up in the first part. It is not a da capo aria, as only the ritornello repeats the beginning. The final words of the second recitative end like an arioso to stress "So kannst du Gnad und Hilfe finden!". The soprano aria expresses like a prayer "Liebster Gott, erbarme dich". The two oboes da caccia illustrate a movement of supplication even together with the soprano voice.
The final chorale is sung on the melody of ""Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten", which Bach used also in his choral cantata BWV 93.
Bach used the music of the opening chorus again for the Kyrie of his Missa in G major, the first aria for the Quoniam of that mass, and the second aria for the Qui tollis of the Missa in A major.

Performances

The cantata was performed at The Proms of 2007 with the Bach Collegium Japan and soloists Carolyn Sampson, Gerd Türk and Peter Kooy, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki.

Recordings