text: erforsche mich , gott , und erfahre mein herz , bwv 136 erforsche mich , gott , und erfahre mein herz ( examine me , god , and know my heart ) , bwv 136 , is a church cantata by johann sebastian bach . bach composed the cantata in 1723 in leipzig to be used for the eighth sunday after trinity . he led the first performance on 18 july 1723 . the work is part of bach 's first annual cycle of cantatas . he began to compose cantatas for all occasions of the liturgical year when he took up office as thomaskantor in may 1723 . the cantata is structured in six movements : two choral movements at the beginning and end frame a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias . the opening movement is based on a verse from psalm 139 ; the closing chorale on a stanza from johann heermann 's hymn " wo soll ich fliehen hin " . the cantata is scored for three vocal soloists ( alto , tenor and bass ) , a four - part choir , corno , two oboes , strings and basso continuo . history and words when bach took up office as thomaskantor ( director of church music ) in leipzig in may 1723 on the first sunday after trinity , he began to compose cantatas for all occasions of the liturgical year . he wrote erforsche mich , gott , und erfahre mein herz for the eighth sunday after trinity . the prescribed readings for the sunday are from the epistle to the romans , " for as many as are led by the spirit of god , they are the sons of god " ( romans 8 : 12 – 17 ) , and from the gospel of matthew , the warning of false prophets from the sermon on the mount ( matthew 7 : 15 – 23 ) . an unknown librettist wrote the text , closely related to the prescribed gospel . his text is the first in a group of ten cantatas following the same structure of biblical text – recitative – aria – recitative – aria – chorale . the ten cantatas were dedicated to the 8th to 14th and 21st to 22nd sunday after trinity and the second sunday after easter . the opening chorus is based on psalms 139 : 23 , focused on the examination of the believer 's heart by god . the closing chorale is stanza 9 of johann heermann 's hymn " wo soll ich fliehen hin " ( 1630 ) on the melody of " auf meinen gott " , which bach used again in 1724 as the base for his chorale cantata wo soll ich fliehen hin , bwv 5 . the bach scholar alfred dürr concludes from the autograph that only the middle section of movement 3 and the chorale were composed in 1723 with certainty . the other parts may rely on a former unknown secular or church cantata , according to the conductor john eliot gardiner and the musicologist isoyama . scoring and structure the cantata in six movements is scored for three vocal soloists ( alto ( a ) , tenor ( t ) and bass ( b ) ) , a four - part choir ( satb ) , corno ( horn , co ) , two oboes ( ob ) , two violins ( vl ) , viola ( va ) and basso continuo ( bc ) . one oboe is marked " d 'amore " ( oa ) in the autograph kept by the staatsbibliothek zu berlin . some scholars , including dürr and gardiner , believe that the second oboe part in the choral movements 1 and 6 should also be played by oboe d 'amore . the title on the original parts reads : " domin : 8 post trinit : / erforsche mich gott , und erfahre mein ect . / â / 4 voci / corno / 2 hautbois / 2 violini / viola / e / continuo / di sign : / j.s.bach " . in the following table of the movements , the scoring and keys and time signatures are taken from alfred dürr , using the symbol for common time ( 4 / 4 ) . the instruments are shown separately for winds and strings , while the continuo , playing throughout , is not shown . music 1 the opening chorus expands on a psalm verse , " erforsche mich , gott , und erfahre mein herz " ( examine me , god , and discover my heart ) . the music in the style of a gigue expresses confidence facing the examination . in 1739 it was characterized by johann mattheson 1739 as " somewhat like the rapid arrow of a stream " ( " wie der strom - pfeil eines bachs " ) . the movement is structure in two parts ( a and a ' ) , with choral fugues on the same themes , both presenting the complete text . an extended instrumental ritornello , dominated by the horn , is heard before , between and after the choral sections . the first fugue is preceded by a choral devise ( statement ) . throughout the movement the two oboes never play independently but double the violins in the and the soprano in the vocal sections . the virtuoso horn parts may have been intended for the exceptional gottfried reiche . bach used the same material as in this movement later in the " cum sancto spiritu " of his missa in a major . 2 a secco recitative , " ach , daß der , so dort die erde " ( alas , that the curse , which strikes the earth there ) , renders a contrasting change of mood . bach interprets the curse of sin , and the hopeless situation of the humans and the threat of the last judgment in music full of dissonances . 3 the alto aria , " es kömmt ein tag " ( a day will come ) , is accompanied by an oboe , an oboe d 'amore according to alfred dürr and john eliot gardiner . the middle section , " denn seines grimm " ( for the wrath of his vengeance will annihilate ) , is certainly composed in 1723 . the middle section is marked adagio and in common time , contrasting to the first section , marked with presto and with a 12 / 8 time signature . 4 a secco recitative , " die himmel sind nicht rein " ( the heavens themselves are not pure ) , tends to an arioso in the last measures . 5 the violins in unison accompany the duet of tenor and bass , " der sünden " ( indeed the stains of sin cling to us ) . the voices sing sometimes in imitation , sometimes in homophony , in the style of duets bach wrote at köthen earlier in his career . 6 the chorale , " dein blut , der " ( your blood , the noble juice ) , is expanded to five parts with a combination of the four - part chorus and an accompanying violin part , similar to the chorale of erschallet , ihr lieder , erklinget , ihr saiten ! bwv 172 , written earlier by bach for pentecost 1714 in weimar . selected recordings the sortable listing is taken from the selection provided by aryeh oron on the bach - cantatas website . choirs and instrumental ensembles are roughly marked as large by red background , such as boys ' choirs and the bach orchestras of the 1950s , while instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are highlighted green under the header instr ..