Johann Sebastian Bach composed the

church cantata A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during Christian liturgy. The genre was particularly popular in 18th-century Lutheran Germany, with many composers writing an extensive output: Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, ...

' (False world, I trust you not), , in Leipzig for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity. He led the first performance of the solo cantata for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

on 24 November 1726.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata in 1726, in Leipzig, for a solo

singer, for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity, which fell on 24 November. Closing the liturgical cycle (Easter having fallen relatively late that year), the cantata had been preceded the previous Sunday by ''Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht'' (BWV 55). The solo cantata is the last in a series of solo cantatas which Bach had begun nearly four months prior, with ''Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust'' (BWV 170, first performed 28 July 1726). The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Philippians, "our conversation is in heaven" (), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the question about paying taxes, answered by " Render unto Caesar..." (). The unknown poet takes from the gospel the idea that the world is false and that man should concentrate on God. He refers to the murder of

Abner In the Hebrew Bible, Abner ( he, אַבְנֵר ) was the cousin of King Saul and the commander-in-chief of his army. His name also appears as "Abiner son of Ner", where the longer form Abiner means "my father is Ner". Biblical narrative Ab ...

by Joab, described in , as an example for the world's falseness. The anonymous librettist's contribution is in whole similar to that of ''Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott'' (BWV 139), illustrating the idea of Christians being surrounded by enemies, often operating under false pretenses of friendliness, such as the Pharisees, who sought to trap Jesus with the question of taxes. This is contrasted to the faithfulness of God. The final chorale, which is the first verse of

Adam Reusner Adam Reusner, also Reissner or Reißner (c. 1496-1575 (some claim 1572 or 1582)) in Mindelheim) was a German mystic, hymn-writer and poet. Biography Reusner studied at Heidelberg University in 1518 and was a pupil of Johannes Reuchlin, studying He ...

's "" (1533), is used to portray this sentiment, God's faithfulness being invoked to ask for protection from evil.

Scoring and structure

Bach structured the cantata in six

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

s and scored it for a

soloist, employing a four-part choir only for the final chorale, and an

instrumental ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

of two horns, three oboes,

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

, two violins, viola, and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

. The cantata begins with an orchestral sinfonia, after which two contrasting recitative-aria pairs follow: the first one describing the world's wickedness, the second God's fidelity. A varied instrumentation provides colourful contrast to the lone soloist and to the text's relative simplicity. # Sinfonia # Recitative: ' # Aria: ' # Recitative: ' # Aria: ' # Chorale: '

Music

The cantata is set for just one singer, but the instrumentation is rich. Similar to other cantatas of the later Leipzig period, Bach used an instrumental movement from an earlier period as a sinfonia, in this case the music best known as the opening of the first ''

Brandenburg Concerto The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, MacDonogh, Giles. ''Frederick the Great: A Life in Dee ...

''. This version of the concerto, dominated by horns and oboes, is similar to the sinfonia BWV 1046a (without a

violino piccolo The violino piccolo (also called the ''Diskantgeige'', ''Terzgeige'', ''Quartgeige'' or ''Violino alla francese'' and sometimes in English as the Piccolo Violin) is a small stringed instrument of the baroque period. Most examples are similar to ...

and assumed to be an early version of the Brandenburg Concerto). In the first aria the soprano is accompanied by two violins, in the second aria of dance character, by three oboes. The two horns of the sinfonia return in the closing chorale, horn 1 supporting the soprano, horn 2 playing a fifth part.

Recordings

* ''J.S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 3'',

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

Knabenchor Hannover The Knabenchor Hannover (Hannover Boys' Choir) is a boys choir founded in 1950 by Heinz Hennig, who served as conductor until the end of 2001. Since 2002, the conductor has been Jörg Breiding. History and music The Knabenchor Hannover has tr ...

Leonhardt-Consort Leonhardt-Consort, also known as the Leonhardt Baroque Ensemble, was a group of instrumentalists which its director, the keyboard player Gustav Leonhardt founded in 1955 to play baroque music. The Consort was active until around 1990, although some ...

, boy soprano, Teldec 1976 * ''Die Bach Kantate Vol. 59'', Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart,

Arleen Augér Joyce Arleen Auger (sometimes spelled Augér ; September 13, 1939 – June 10, 1993) was an American soprano, known for her coloratura voice and interpretations of works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Monteverdi, Mozart, and Schubert. She won a posthum ...

, Hänssler 1983 * ''Bach: Kantaten BWV 52, BWV 84 & BWV 209'', Raymond Leppard, English Chamber Orchestra, Elly Ameling, Philips 1981. * ''Bach Cantatas Vol. 12'', John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists,

Gillian Keith Gillian Keith (born 3 April 1972 in Toronto) is a Canadian/British operatic soprano, originally from Toronto, Canada, and living in London, UK. Keith was educated at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Schulich School of Music of McGill Uni ...

, Soli Deo Gloria 2000 * ''J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 18'', Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Sibylla Rubens,

Antoine Marchand Antoine Marchand is a record label established in 2003 by the Dutch early music performer Ton Koopman. Antoine Marchand is the French translation of Ton Koopman. The label is distributed by Dutch Jazz and classics distributor Challenge. Koopman ...

2003 * ''J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 38 (Solo Cantatas)'', Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan,

Carolyn Sampson Carolyn Sampson (born 18 May 1974) is an English soprano in opera and concert. Specialising in historically informed performance, she has sung in Masaaki Suzuki's recording project of Bach cantatas and has appeared at the English National Opera. ...

, BIS 2006 * ''J.S. Bach: Geistliche Solokantaten für Sopran'', Helmut Müller-Brühl, Bach Vokalensemble Köln, Kölner Kammerorchester, Siri Thornhill, Naxos 2007

Notes

References

Sources

*
Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht BWV 52; BC A 160 / Sacred cantata (23rd Sunday after Trinity)
Bach Digital
Cantata BWV 52 Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht
history, scoring, sources for text and music, translations to various languages, discography, discussion, Bach Cantatas Website
BWV 52 – "Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht"
English translation, discussion, Emmanuel Music
BWV 52 Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht
English translation, University of Vermont
BWV 52 Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht
text, scoring, University of Alberta
Chapter 33 Bwv 52 – The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach
Julian Mincham, 2010

bach-chorales.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Falsche Welt dir trau ich nicht BWV 52 Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach 1726 compositions