Widerstehe doch der Sünde (BWV 54): opening

Gift!! (That is..."poison" in German.) Put up your guard and resist the curse and poison of sinning -- this is the admonition which Bach gives us in this cantata for solo singer, strings, and continuo. The very first chord with its unstable harmony hits us with this force. 

We explore how Bach achieves this and other shocking dissonances even a few progressions (retrogressions?) which don't follow harmonic rules. Clearly the heartbeat bass line could be our resistance against sin -- but does the beautiful sequence of rising notes above represent indelicate passion, or the fight against it?

Widerstehe doch der Sünde as performed by the Netherlands Bach Society, sung by alto Maarten Engeltjes and led by Lars Ulrik Mortensen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBwjv-QJhIk

Companion video interview with the vocalist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGjJDFP-AyM&t=0s

Companion video interview with the conductor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQNxeXKRiJg&t=0s