{"id":534,"date":"2014-10-06T05:15:44","date_gmt":"2014-10-06T12:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.timsummers.org\/?page_id=534"},"modified":"2020-03-14T03:41:46","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T10:41:46","slug":"bach-j-s-bwv-54-cantata-no-54-widerstehe-doch-der-sunde","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.timsummers.org\/?page_id=534","title":{"rendered":"Bach, J. S.: BWV 54, Cantata No. 54, ‘Widerstehe doch der S\u00fcnde’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 54th Cantata of J.S. Bach\u00a0<\/span>is short, and its message is clear: stand firm against sin, which is of the devil. It doesn\u2019t require much further clarification. It was almost certainly composed in Weimar, fairly early in Bach\u2019s career, likely for the 4th Sunday in Lent (during which time the need to resist sin could probably use a bit of reinforcement). Some elements of tone-painting might benefit from\u00a0a bit of spotlighting: the \u2018curse\u2019 showing itself in the violas in the first aria; the \u2018sword\u2019 driving to the end of the recitative; the snaky \u2018devil\u2019 of the second aria. These are fairly conventional elements of enriching text and meaning with music.<\/p>\n

There is one underlying question which deserves commentary, however inconclusive or cursory: is the cantata itself beautiful, and, if so, is it straightened enough by its own \u2018right devotion\u2019? The question of whether the cantatas were too theatrical to be devotional was not a casual one for an iconoclastic time: the can- tata must rectify itself. But as in most representations of temptation, sin gets the most interesting bits. This may be too sophisticated a reading: the message seems clear enough. Stand firm, like the resolute tonic bass line at the opening, against sin. That the dissonant tension is beautiful need not be dwelt upon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 54th Cantata of J.S. Bach\u00a0is short, and its message is clear: stand firm against sin, which is of the devil. It doesn\u2019t require much further clarification. It was almost certainly composed in Weimar, fairly early in Bach\u2019s career, likely for the 4th Sunday in Lent (during which time the need to resist sin could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":21,"menu_order":21,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t