| Was frag ich nach der Welt | |
|---|---|
BWV 94 | |
| Chorale cantata byJ. S. Bach | |
 Thomaskirche, Leipzig | |
| Occasion | Ninth Sunday afterTrinity |
| Chorale | "Was frag ich nach der Welt" byBalthasar Kindermann |
| Performed | 6 August 1724 (1724-08-06):Leipzig |
| Movements | eight |
| Vocal | SATB choir and solo |
| Instrumental |
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Was frag ich nach der Welt (What should I ask of the world),[1]BWV 94 is one of manychurch cantatas composed byJohann Sebastian Bach. He composed it inLeipzig, setting a text appropriate for theNinth Sunday after Trinity Sunday, and first performed it on 6 August 1724.
Bach aimed to produce more than one cantata for each occasion in the liturgical year, andWas frag ich nach der Welt belongs to the second cantata cycle that he started after being appointedThomaskantor in 1723. The work is achorale cantata, like most of the second cycle, and the work thus also belongs to another cycle, thechorale cantata cycle. The cantata is based on the eightstanzas of the 1664hymn of the same name byBalthasar Kindermann, with a melody byAhasverus Fritsch. An unknownlibrettist retained five chorale stanzas, expending two of those by madrigal text forrecitatives, and rephrased the other three intoaria texts. The cantata is framed by choral movements, achorale fantasia at the beginning and a closing chorale setting.
The cantata is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano,alto,tenor andbass), afour-part choir, and abaroque instrumental ensemble of aflauto traverso, twooboes, twoviolins,viola,organ andcontinuo. The flute plays a prominent concertante role.
The cantata is the ninth work of Bach's second annual cycle in Leipzig, thechorale cantata cycle. He composed it for theNinth Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from theFirst Epistle to the Corinthians, a warning of false gods and consolation in temptation (1 Corinthians 10:6–13), and from theGospel of Luke, theparable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–9).[2] The cantata is based on thechorale in eightstanzas of the poetBalthasar Kindermann (1664), on a melody byAhasverus Fritsch.[2][3] An unknown poet transformed the chorale into a cantata text, retaining stanzas 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8, expanding 3 and 5 by insertedrecitatives, and rewriting 2, 4 and 6 intoarias. The cantata text is only generally connected to the readings, referring to the statement in the Gospel "for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light". The poet expresses turning away from the transient world to Jesus.[4]
Bach led the first performance of the cantata, with theThomanerchor, on 6 August 1724.[2][4]
The cantata in eightmovements is scored for four vocal soloists—soprano,alto,tenor andbass–and afour-part choir,flauto traverso, twooboes, twoviolins,viola,organ andcontinuo.[2][5] A typical duration is 23 minutes.[6]
The opening chorus is dominated by the concertanteflauto traverso in figurations reminiscent of aflute concerto. This is the first Leipzig cantata in which Bach wrote virtuoso music for the flute: an excellent flute player was probably available.[7][8] Bach seems to have written again for him inHerr Christ, der einge Gottessohn, BWV 96. Two themes of the openingritornello of twelve measures, one for flute, the other for the strings and oboes, are derived from the melody of the hymn "O Gott, du frommer Gott" (1648). The chorale is sung by the soprano. The lively music inD major seems to represent the "world" rather than its negation.[9]
In the bass aria with continuo, comparing the world to "haze and shadow",[1] tumbling motives illustrate vanishing, falling and breaking, whereas long held notes speak of stability ("besteht").[10]
In the third movement the tenor sings the chorale in rich ornamentation, the accompaniment of two oboes and continuo is similar to the (later)Er ist auf Erden kommen arm in theChristmas Oratorio, #7 of Part I.[10]
The following alto aria, calling the world a "snare and false pretense",[1] is dominated again by the flute.[10] The arias for tenor and soprano are set in dance rhythms,Pastorale andBourrée, describing the "world" rather than disgust with it.[11] The cantata is concluded by the last twostanzas of the chorale in a four-part setting.[4][12]
Dürr, Alfred (1981).Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 390–395.ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
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