Gott soll allein mein Herze haben

The cantata was composed in Leipzig in 1726 and intended for performance on the 18th Sunday after Trinity Sunday[?]. Like three other cantatas by Bach, Geist und Seele wird verwirret, Widerstehe doch der Sünde and Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, it is written for a single alto soloist, but unlike those works it also calls for a choir to sing the concluding chorale.

The accompanying orchestra is made up of two oboes, a taille (tenor oboe), violins, viola, solo organ and basso continuo. The piece is in seven movements:

1. Sinfonia - a purely instrumental movement with prominent part for solo organ.
2. "Gott soll allein mein Herze haben" - an arioso[?] for the solo alto, accompanied only by the continuo.
3. "Gott soll allein mein Herze haben" - an aria accompanied by the continuo and featuring the solo organ.
4. "Was ist die Liebe Gottes" - a revitative[?] accompanied by the continuo.
5. "Stirb in mir" - an aria accompanied by everybody except the oboes.
6. "Doch meint es auch dabei" - another continuo-accompanied recitative.
7. "Du süße Liebe, schenk uns deine Gunst" - the third verse of Martin Luther's chorale "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" performed by the choir and orchestra closes the cantata.

As with a number of other works, Bach reused some of his earlier works for this piece. The first movement sinfonia and fifth movement aria are believed to have their roots in a now-lost oboe concerto, possibly written during his time in Cöthen[?] (1717-23). That same concerto is also the source of Bach's Harpsichord Concerto, BWV 1053[?] (around 1739).

External links

• Original German text (http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/169)
• English translation of the text (http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV169)
• Downloadable vocal scores of Bach's cantatas in .pdf format (http://www.bh2000.net/score/sacrbach/)