Was frag' ich nach der Welt

The libretto of Was frag ich nach der Welt (What do I ask from the world) was based on a well-known and popular Lutheran hymn (chorale). It offered Bach a wonderfully direct and colourful text with which to preach to his congregation about the spiritual emptiness of material wealth and luxury. It must have hit its mark, because after its first performance in 1724, Bach revived it again each year between 1732 and 1735. So powerful is the portrayal of the cantata’s proud man who “builds the most splendid palaces” and “dresses as finely as he can”, that we’re left wondering whether Bach had a real-life character in mind. In the fourth and final aria, the soprano wisely promises to “Only love my Jesus”—words given added gravity by the rich accompanying oboe d’amore. Bach’s congregation must certainly have got the message—and joined in the singing—of the final chorale which celebrates Jesus as the Christian soul’s only worthy “treasure and possession”. About J.S. Bach’s Cantatas Although Bach seldom used the word, “cantata” has become the accepted term for the multi-movement church pieces and celebratory secular works composed in large numbers by Bach and his contemporaries. Bach himself wrote more cantatas than anything else, mostly during two bursts of creativity between 1713 and 1716 in Weimar, and 1723 and 1729 in Leipzig. Around 200 works survive in a wide range of styles but usually including a chorus, solo arias, linking (speech-like) recitatives and a hymn (chorale). Bach probably completed five annual cycles of church cantatas for regular Sunday worship, festivals and celebrations. Because they were occasional pieces for court and public entertainment, fewer secular cantatas survive, though some were later revised for church use.