Was frag ich nach der Welt, BWV 94
|
Was frag ich nach der Welt BWV 94 |
|
|---|---|
| Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach | |
Thomaskirche, Leipzig
|
|
| Occasion | Ninth Sunday after Trinity |
| Performed | 6 August 1724: Leipzig |
| Movements | 8 |
| Cantata text | anonymous |
| Chorale | "Was frag ich nach der Welt" by Balthasar Kindermann |
| Vocal | SATB choir and solo |
| Instrumental |
|
Was frag ich nach der Welt (What should I ask of the world), BWV 94, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the ninth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 6 August 1724. It is based on the hymn by Balthasar Kindermann (1664) on a melody by Ahasverus Fritsch.
The cantata is the ninth chorale cantata of Bach's second annual cycle in Leipzig, composed for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Romans, a warning of false gods and consolation in temptation (), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the Unjust Steward (). The cantata is based on the chorale in eight stanzas of the poet Balthasar Kindermann (1664) on a melody by Ahasverus Fritsch. An unknown poet transformed the chorale to a cantata text, keeping stanzas 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8, expanding 3 and 5 by inserted recitatives, and rewriting 2, 4 and 6 to arias. 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.
Bach first performed the cantata on 6 August 1724.
The cantata in eight movements is scored for four vocal soloists—soprano, alto, tenor and bass–and a four-part choir, flauto traverso, two oboes, two violins, viola, organ and continuo.
...
Wikipedia