Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54
| Widerstehe doch der Sünde | |
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| BWV 54 | |
| Solo church cantata by J. S. Bach | |
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| Occasion |
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| Performed | 15 July 1714?: Weimar |
| Movements | 3 |
| Cantata text | Georg Christian Lehms |
| Vocal | solo alto |
| Instrumental |
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Widerstehe doch der Sünde (Just resist sin),BWV 54, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the solo cantata for alto in Weimar between 1711 and 1714, and probably performed it on the seventh Sunday after Trinity, 15 July 1714. It is Bach's first extant church cantata for a solo voice.
The text of the short work was written by Georg Christian Lehms, for two arias and a connecting recitative. The topic is to resist sin, based on the Epistle of James. The text was published in a 1711 collection, dedicated to the Sunday Oculi. It is not known when Bach composed the work but is assumed that he performed it as part of his monthly cantata productions in 1714 on the seventh Sunday after Trinity, 15 July. The solo voice is accompanied by strings: two violin parts, two viola parts and continuo. The composition begins with a striking dissonant chord.
The history of the composition is not clear. The text was written by Georg Christian Lehms for Oculi, the third Sunday in Lent, and published in 1711 in Gottgefälliges Kirchen-Opffer. It concentrates on avoiding sin, based on the Epistle of James. The first line of movement 3 quotes . Bach may have composed the cantata already before taking up regular cantata compositions in Weimar. He was appointed concertmaster of the Weimar court capelle of the co-reigning dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar, on 2 March 1714. As concertmaster, he assumed the principal responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the Schlosskirche (palace church), on a monthly schedule.
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