Composed for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, which fell on August 8, 1723, Bach's Cantata No. 179 "Siehe zu, dass deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei" (See to it that all who fear God are not hypocrites) (BWV 179) sets a text by an unknown poet based on a chorale by Christoph Tietze. Bach's setting takes the notion of hypocrisy and works into the musical imagery of the work through false relations, sour sonorities, and syncopated counterpoint. The cantata is scored for tenor, bass, and alto soloists and chorus, oboe, a pair of oboe da caccia, strings, and basso continuo. The first movement of "Siehe zu, dass deine Gottes furcht nicht Heuchelei sei" is a fugue for full orchestra and chorus, with two subjects musically illustrating the cantata's twin themes of hypocrisy and service. The second is a very restrained secco recitative for tenor soloist and continuo. The third is a muscular aria for tenor soloist accompanied by slashing strings, oboe, and continuo. The fourth is a very dramatic secco recitative for soloist and continuo. The fifth is a mournful aria for soprano soloist, a pair of oboe da caccia, and continuo. "Siehe zu, dass deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei" concludes with a syncopated harmonization of Tietze's chorale for the chorus and full orchestra colla parte. A decade later, Bach re-used the first and third movements of "Siehe zu, dass deine Gottes furcht nicht Heuchelei sei" in his Mass in G major (BWV 236) and its fifth movement for his Mass in A major (BWV 234).

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