The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Prefatory Note
• Errata
• The St Matthew Passion (1728—1729)
• No. 1.: O Lamb of God Most Holy ( O Lamm Gottes Unschuldig ) 1
• No. 3.: O Blessed Jesu, How Hast Thou Offended ( Herzliebster Jesu, Was Hast Du Verbrochen )
• No. 16.: My Sin It Is Which Binds Thee ( Ich Bin’s, Ich Sollte Bussen )
• No. 21.: Receive Me, My Redeemer ( Erkenne Mich, Mein Huter )
• No. 23.: Here Would I Stand Beside Thee ( Ich Will Hier Bei Dir Stehen )
• No. 25.: My Saviour, Why Must All This Ill Befall Thee ? ( Was Ist Die Ursach’ Aller Solcher Plagen? )
• No. 31.: O Father, Let Thy Will Be Done ( Was Mein Gott Will )
• No. 35.: O Man, Thy Grievous Sin Bemoan ( O Mensch, Bewein’ Dein’ Sunde Gross )
• No. 38.: How Falsely Doth the World Accuse ! ( Mir Hat Die Welt Truglich Gericht’t )
• No. 46.: O Lord, Who Dares to Smite Thee ? ( Wer Hat Dich So Geschlagen )
• No. 49.: Lamb of God, I Fall Before Thee ( Bin Ich Gleich Von Dir Gewichen )
• No. 53.: Commit Thy Way to Jesus ( Befiehl Du Deine Wege )
• No. 55.: O Wondrous Love, That Suffers This Correction! ( Wie Wunderbarlich Ist Doch Diese Strafe! )
• No. 63.: O Sacred Head, Surrounded ( O Haupt Voll Blut )
• No. 72.: Be Near Me, Lord, When Dying ( Wenn Ich Einmal Soll Scheiden )
• The St John Passion (1723)
• No. 4 1 .: O Wondrous Love ( O Grosse Lieb ’) 2
• No. 5 1 .: Thy Will, O Lord, Be Done ( Dein Will’ Gescheh’ )
• No. 8 1 .: O Lord, Who Dares to Smite Thee ? ( Wer Hat Dich So Geschlagen )
• No. 11 2 .: Peter, Faithless, Thrice Denies ( Petrus, Der Nicht Denkt Zuruck )
• No. 12 1 .: See the Lord of Life and Light ( Christus, Der Uns Selig Macht )
• No. 15 1 .: O Mighty King ( Ach, Grosser Konig )
• No. 22 1 .: Thy Bonds, O Son of God Most High ( Durch Dein Gefangniss, Gottes Sohn )
• No. 28 1 .: Within Our Inmost Being ( In Meines Herzens Grunde )
• No. 30 1 .: While His Parting Spirit Sinks ( Er Nahm Alles Wohl In Acht )
• No. 32 1 .: Jesu, Thou Who Knewest Death ( Jesu, Der Du Warest Todt )
• No. 35 3 .: Help Us, Christ, Almighty Son ( O Hilf, Christe, Gottes Sohn )
• No. 37 1 .: Lord Jesus, Thy Dear Angel Send ( Ach Herr, Lass Dein Lieb’ Engelein )
• The Christmas Oratorio (1734)
• No. 5.: How Shall I Fitly Meet Thee 1 ( Wie Soll Ich Dich Empfangen )
• No. 7.: For Us to Earth He Cometh Poor ( Er Ist Auf Erden Kommen Arm )
• No. 9.: Ah! Dearest Jesus, Holy Child ( Ach, Mein Herzliebes Jesulein! )
• No. 12.: Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light ( Brich An, O Schones Morgenlicht )
• No. 17.: Within Yon Gloomy Manger ( Schaut Hin! Dort Liegt )
• No. 23.: With All Thy Hosts ( Wir Singen Dir )
• No. 28.: The Lord Hath All These Wonders Wrought ( Dies Hat Er Alles Uns Gethan )
• No. 33.: Thee With Tender Care I’ll Cherish ( Ich Will Dich Mit Fleiss Bewahren )
• No. 35.: Rejoice, and Sing ( Seid Froh, Dieweil )
• Nos. 38 & 40.: Jesus, Thou That For Me Livest ( Jesu Du, Mein Liebstes Leben ) Jesu, Thou My Joy and Pleasure ( Jesu, Meine Freud’ Und Wonne )
• No. 42.: Jesus Who Didst Ever Guide Me ( Jesus Richte Mein Beginnen )
• No. 46.: All Darkness Flies ( Dein Glanz All’ Finsterniss Verzehrt )
• No. 53.: This Proud Heart Within Us Swelling ( Zwar Ist Solche Herzensstube )
• No. 59.: Beside Thy Cradle Here I Stand ( Ich Steh’ an Deiner Krippen Hier )
• No. 64.: Now Vengeance Hath Been Taken ( Nun Seid Ihr Wohl Gerochen )
• The Ascension Oratorio (cantata 11, Lobet Gott In Seinen Reichen ) ( Circ. 1736)
• No. 6.: Now At Thy Feet Creation Lies 1 ( Nun Lieget Alles Unter Dir )
• No. 11.: When Will the Night Be Over ? ( Wann Soll Es Doch Geschehen )

No. 16.

My sin it is which binds thee (Ich bin’s, ich sollte bussen)

Heinrich Isaak’s melody was first published in Georg Forster’s Ein ausszug guter alter ūn newer Teutscher liedlein, Nurnberg, 1539, but to the secular song, “Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen.” Of Isaak, Germany’s first great composer, little is known. He was born circ. 1440, perhaps at Prague, was organist of the Medici chapel, Florence, 1477-93, and composer to the Emperor Maximilian I, 1496-1515. He died before 1531. The tune has survived through its association with Johann Hesse’s (1490-1547) Hymn for the Dying, “O Welt, ich muss dich lassen,” first published as a broadsheet at Nurnberg circ. 1555 and in the Nurnberg Hymn-Book, Geystliche Lieder, Psalmen und Lobgesenge. D. Mart. Luther, Nurnberg, 1569. The words of Hesse’s Hymn are a frank conversion of the travelling artisan’s song, “Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen,” and the melody is styled “Innsbruck” in Hymns Ancient and Modern (No. 86). It was not until sixty years after its publication that Isaak’s melody appeared in association with Hesse’s Hymn. They were first published together in David Wolder’s New Catechismus Gesangbuchlein (Hamburg, 1598 [1597]), and in the Eisleben Gesangbuch, Darinnen Psalmen unnd Geistliche Lieder (Eisleben, 1598). In the latter work the tune virtually assumed the form in which Bach employs it.

Bach uses the melody elsewhere in the “St Matthew Passion” (No. 44), and in the “St John Passion” (No. 8). He employs it also in three of the Cantatas: “Meine Seufzer, meine Thranen” (No. 13), for the Second Sunday after Epiphany; “Sie werden euch in den Bann thun” (No. 44), for the Sixth Sunday after Easter; and “In allen meinen Thaten” (No. 97), for general use. In the Choralgesange there are four other harmonisations of the melody (Nos. 289, 290, 291, 298).

The words of the Choral are the fifth stanza of Paul Gerhardt’s Passiontide Hymn, “O Welt, sieh’ hier dein Leben,” first published in the 1647 (Berlin) edition of Johann Crüger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica. Paul Gerhardt was born in 1607, at Grafenhainichen, near Wittenberg. At the age of fifty (1657) he became third deacon of the Church of St Nicolas, Berlin, during the reign of the Great Elector. For refusing to obey the Elector’s order to treat with moderation the differences between the Calvinist and Lutheran Churches, Gerhardt was deposed in 1666. Three years later (1669) he became archdeacon at Lubben. He died in 1676. After Luther Gerhardt is the most popular of the German hymn-writers. He was the author of 120 hymns, which were collected and published in ten “Dozens” by Johann G. Ebeling (see the “Christmas Oratorio,” No. 33), under the title Pauli Gerhardi Geistliche Andachten (Berlin, 1666-67):

• Ich bin’s, ich sollte bussen,
• An Handen und an Fussen
• Gebunden in der Holl’.
• Die Geisseln und die Banden,
• Und was du ausgestanden,
• Das hat verdienet meine Seel

• B.G. iv. 42.

English translations of the Hymn are noted in the Dictionary of Hymnology, p. 853.

Form. Simple (2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo).