(To each but what’s due him!) for soprano, alto, tenor and bass, violine I+II, viola, violoncello I+II, basso continuo

The cantata “Nur jedem das Seine!” (To each but what’s due him!) BWV 163 forms something of a chamber-music pendant to the festive cantata BWV 119. This is not necessarily because it was composed in Weimar in 1715; rather, it is mainly because of the work’s reversed perspective: in Salomo Franck’s libretto, earthly authorities are not presented as wise rulers, but as an incorrigible vice, that must be accepted in a world filled with invoices and accounts. As such, the biblical reference to “rendering unto Caesar” is interpreted here in the light of Lutheran two kingdoms doctrine: the “heart” is reserved for the “Almighty”, and the claims of state and sovereign are therefore confronted with a clear boundary at the realm of inner (religious) freedom.