Relayed from St. Ann's Church, Manchester
S.B. from Manchester
' SlEHE ZU DASS DEINE GOTTES FURCHT NICHT HEUCHELEI SEI ' ('Take thou heed thy praise of God be not a false and vain thing')
GLADYS SWEENEY (Soprano)
ARTHUR WILKES (Tenor)
REGINALD WHITEHEAD (Bass)
THE ST. ANN'S CHURCH CHOIR
At the Organ, GEORGE PRITCHARD
THE NORTHERN WIRELESS ORCHESTRA
Conducted by T. H. MORRISON
DURING his first eighteen months as Cantor of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Bach wrote more than twenty Cantatas which have come down to us. This one was composed for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity. For the majority of his texts he turned to Picander, partly, no doubt, because the poet boasted some knowledge of music. But many of his texts are quite astonishingly bad, and this is one of the worst. More than one number is, in the original, the merest doggerel. Bach's music, none the less, possibly all the more, is full of interest and brilliance, and the first chorus of No. 179, a Motet in form. is a splendid Fugue for the voices.
The next three numbers for the men's voices are wonderfully expressive, when one has in mind the poor material on which Bach had to work, and in the soprano aria, the voice and the two oboes along with the bass in the accompaniment, are treated like the four voices of a quartet in the most interesting way.
The setting of the final Chorale is a very beautiful one with bold and impressive harmonies.
I.—Chorus :
Take thou heed thy praise of God be not a false and vain thing,
And serve the Lord not with lies- and evil.
II.—Recitative (Tenor):
Today all Christendom thro' sin is brought to shame :
For many call upon His Name,
Who empty temples only raise Him
And with their voice alone they praise
Him. like Pharisees, their ways are holy,
They bow their heads with humble mien and lowly ;
Yet all their heart is full of vanity and pride;
Into the house of God they go.
With outward show, tho' all their works belie Him ;
Not truly Christians they who worship so: Nay for their evil hearts deny Him.
III.—Aria (Tenor) :
Falsehood, vain and nought thou art, And to Sodom's doom thou goest, As a tree with canker'd heart,
Though a foliage fair thou showest ;
Falsehood, know thine outward grace, Cannot stand before His Face.
IV.—Recitative (Bast) : Whose heart is pure ev'n as his words profess.
Doth truly God confess. So, in the temple he believed Who beat in sorrow on his breast Repenting all his sins, and 60 receiving grace; Ev'n that example take. 0 man, thyself no more deceiving.
And all thy sins forsake : thou dost no murder, nay. nor stealest, Kor with thy neighbour falsely dealest : Yet, evil thoughts thy heart doth know, Not sinless thou nor white as snow. fato the Lord In- all Hiy sin confessed So shalt thou by His Grace be blessed.
V.—Aria (Soprano) : God of love. Thy pity show. Shed Thy grace. Thy peace around me! Sin and sorrow do I know. As tho' cruel chains had bound me ; Help me, Jesu, he thou nigh. Without Thee I faint and die.
VX—Chorale: A sinner I. asham'd and weeping. Alone at God's tribunal stand.
0 Father, have me in Thy keeping.
0 spare my guilt and stay Thy hand. Have merry. Lord, mine anguish see, 0 God. my Saviour, pity me ! (English Text by D. Millar Craig. Copyright B.B.C. 1929.)
Cantatas for the next four Sundays are:-
Aug. 18. ' Lobe den Herren. den machtigen Konig drr Ehren' (' Praise thou the Father ')-
Aug. 25. ' Christus der ist mein Leben' (' 0 Christ my all ').
Sept. 1. ' Jesu, der du meine Seele ' (' Jesus, thou who art Salvation ').
Sept. 8. ' Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan' (' What God doth, that is wise and right ').