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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) THE ST JOHN PASSION (1723) - Bach's Chorals, vol. 1 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Passions and Oratorios
Return to Title Page for Bach’s Chorals, vol. 1 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and OratoriosThe Online Library of LibertyA project of Liberty Fund, Inc.THE ST JOHN PASSION (1723) - Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach’s Chorals, vol. 1 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios [1915]Edition used:Bach’s Chorals. Part I: The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios, by Charles Sanford Terry (Cambridge University Press, 1915-1921). 3 vols. Vol. 1.
Part of: Bach’s Chorals, 3 vols.
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THE ST JOHN PASSION (1723)No. 41 .O wondrous love (O grosse Lieb’)2For Johann Cruger’s melody, “Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen,” see “St Matthew Passion,” No. 3. The words of the Choral are the seventh stanza of Johann Heermann’s Passiontide Hymn, “Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen” (see “St Matthew Passion,” No. 3). Two more stanzas of the Hymn are sung in No. 15 infra:
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 51 .Thy will, O Lord, be done (Dein Will’ gescheh’) Melody: “Vater unser im Himmelreich” Anon. 1539 The melody, “Vater unser im Himmelreich,” by an unknown composer, appeared first in Valentin S. Schumann’s (d. 1545) Geistliche lieder auffs new gebessert, Leipzig, 1539. The tune has been attributed to Luther, but on inadequate evidence. Bach uses the melody elsewhere in three of the Cantatas: “Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott” (No. 101), for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity; “Es reifet euch ein schrecklich Ende” (No. 90), for the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity; and “Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben” (No. 102), for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity. There is another harmonisation of the tune in the Choralgesange, No. 316, which Bach used for the earlier performances of the “St John Passion.” The words of the Choral are the fourth stanza of Luther’s versification of the Lord’s Prayer, which was first published, with the tune, in Valentin S. Schumann’s Geistliche lieder, Leipzig, 1539:
English translations of the Hymn are noted in the Dictionary of Hymnology, p. 1205. Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 81 .O Lord, who dares to smite thee? (Wer hat dich so geschlagen)For Heinrich Isaak’s melody, “O Welt, ich muss dich lassen,” see the “St Matthew Passion,” No. 16. The words of the Choral are the third and fourth stanzas of Paul Gerhardt’s Passiontide Hymn, “O Welt, sieh’ hier dein Leben” (see the “St Matthew Passion,” No. 16. Stanza iii. is used by Bach also in No. 44 there):
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 112 .Peter, faithless, thrice denies (Petrus, der nicht denkt zuruck) Melody: “Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein” Melchior Vulpius 1609 The melody, “Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein,” was composed by Melchior Vulpius. He was born at Wasungen circ. 1560 and became Cantor at Weimar circ. 1596. He died there in 1615. This, his most notable, tune appeared in his Ein schon geistlich Gesangbuch, published at Jena in 1609, an enlarged edition of his Kirchen Geseng und Geistliche Lieder, Leipzig, 1604. It is there set to Petrus Herbert’s (d. 1571) Hymn “Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein.” Adjusted to Paul Stockmann’s “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod,” it was included in Johann Hildebrandt’s Geistlicher Zeit-Vertreiber (Leipzig, 1656). By 1714 (the Weissenfels Gesang-Und Kirchenbuch) the tune had in great measure assumed the form Bach employs. The melody may be regarded as the principal one of the “St John Passion,” where it appears again in Nos. 30 and 32. Bach uses it also in the Cantatas “Sehet, wir geh’n hinauf nach Jerusalem” (No. 159), for Quinquagesima; and “Himmelskonig, sei willkommen” (No. 182), for Palm Sunday. The words of the Choral are the tenth stanza of Paul Stockmann’s Passiontide Hymn, “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod,” which first appeared in his Aller Christen Leib-Stucke, Leipzig, 1633. Stockmann was born at Lauchstadt in 1602 or 1603. He served under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden as a Lutheran field preacher, and after residing at Wittenberg and Leipzig, became pastor of Lützen. He died there in 1636:
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 121 .See the Lord of life and light (Christus, der uns selig macht) Melody: “Christus, der uns selig macht” “Patris Sapientia” 1531 The melody, “Christus, der uns selig macht,” proper to the Latin hymn “Patris Sapientia,” was first published by Michael Weisse in the earliest German Hymn-Book of the Bohemian Brethren, Ein New Gesengbuchlen, Jung Bunzlau, 1531. With slight variations Bach uses one of his predecessors’, Calvisius, version of the melody, published in his Harmonia Cantionum ecclesiasticarum (1598). Michael Weisse was born circ. 1480 at Neisse in Silesia. He became a monk at Breslau, adopted Lutheranism, entered the Bohemian Brethren’s House at Leutomischl, and acted as their preacher in Bohemia and Moravia. He also edited their Gesengbuchlen of 1531. He died in 1534. Bach uses the melody elsewhere in the “St John Passion” (No. 35). There is another harmonisation of it in the Choralgesange, No. 48. The words of the Choral are the first stanza of Michael Weisse’s Passiontide Hymn, “Christus, der uns selig macht,” a free translation of the Latin “Patris sapientia, veritas divina.” It was first published, with the tune, in Ein New Gesengbuchlen of 1531, which contained 157 hymns written or translated by Weisse himself:
Translations of the Hymn into English are noted in the Dictionary of Hymnology, p. 886. Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 151 .O mighty King (Ach, grosser Konig)For Johann Crüger’s melody, “Herzliebster Jesu,” see the “St Matthew Passion,” No. 3. The words of the Choral are the eighth and ninth stanzas of Johann Heermann’s Passiontide Hymn, “Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen” (see the “St Matthew Passion,” No. 3):
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 221 .Thy bonds, O Son of God Most High (Durch dein Gefangniss, Gottes Sohn) Melody: “Mach’s mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Gut’ ” Johann Hermann Schein 1628 The melody and Hymn, “Mach’s mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Gut’,” composed and written by Johann Hermann Schein, were first published together in broadsheet form (Leipzig, 1628) as a “Trost-Liedlein” for five voices. The melody and Hymn (stanzas i.-v.) were included in Schein’s Cantional Oder Gesang-Buch Augsburgischer Confession, of which the second edition was published at Leipzig in 1645 (first edition, 1627). The melody is generally known as “Eisenach.” Schein was born at Grunhain, Saxony, in 1586. In 1616, having recently been appointed Kapellmeister at the ducal court of Saxe-Weimar, he succeeded Seth Calvisius as Cantor of St Thomas’ Church, Leipzig. He held the post until his death in 1630, and was one of the most distinguished musicians of the period. Of the 237 Choral melodies in his Cantional, 81 are by him. Bach uses the melody elsewhere in the Cantatas, “Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott” (No. 139), for the Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity; and “Ich steh’ mit einem Fuss im Grabe” (No. 156), for the Third Sunday after Epiphany. There is another harmonisation of the tune in the Choralgesange, No. 237. The words of the Choral are from an unknown source. Their workmanship does not suggest the “delicate unknown poet” who revised Brockes’ text of the “Passion” for Bach, whom Schweitzer (vol. ii. 175) conjectures to be the author of the text of the Cantatas “Sie werden aus Saba Alle kommen” (No. 65), “Mein liebster Jesu ist verloren” (No. 154), and “Du wahrer Gott und Davidssohn” (No. 23). The stanza is discoverable neither in Brockes’ libretto (set to music by Handel and others), nor in the 1697 (Leipzig) eight-volumed Hymn-Book, from which Bach chiefly drew his Choral texts.
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 281 .Within our inmost being (In meines Herzens Grunde) Melody: “Valet will ich dir geben” Melchior Teschner 1614 The melody, “Valet will ich dir geben,” composed by Melchior Teschner, was first published, along with the words of Valerius Herberger’s Hymn (see infra), as a broadsheet, at Leipzig, in 1614. A second melody was printed in the broadsheet, also by Teschner, which has fallen out of use. The surviving melody is familiar in Hymns Ancient and Modern as “St Theodulph,” No. 98. It bears a striking resemblance to the air of the anonymous 16th century “Sellenger’s Round” (see Grove iv. 409). But Teschner’s authorship is attested as early as 1656 (Johann Hildebrandt’s Geistlicher Zeit-Vertreiber, Leipzig, 1656). Of Melchior Teschner little is known beyond the fact that he was Lutheran Cantor at Fraustadt, Silesia, early in the seventeenth century. Bach uses the melody in the Cantata “Christus, der ist mein Leben” (No. 95), for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. There is another harmonisation of the tune in the Choralgesange, No. 314. The words of the Choral are the third stanza of Valerius Herberger’s Hymn for the Dying, “Valet will ich dir geben.” It was written during the Silesian plague in 1613, appeared first as a broadsheet (see supra) in 1614, and later in the Gotha Cantionale sacrum of 1648, whence it passed into common use. Valerius Herberger was born at Fraustadt in 1562. In 1590 he became deacon and in 1599 chief pastor of St Mary’s Church, Fraustadt, where Teschner was Cantor Ejected in 1604 as a Lutheran, Herberger on Christmas Eve opened a meeting-house at Fraustadt, the “Kripplein Christi.” He died in 1627. The Hymn is an acrostic on his name, Valerius, formed by the initial “Vale” of stanza i and the initial letter of the opening line of the following four stanzas.
English translations of the Hymn are noted in the Dictionary of Hymnology, p. 511. Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 301 .While his parting spirit sinks (Er nahm Alles wohl in Acht)For Melchior Vulpius’ melody, “Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein,” see No. 11 supra. The words of the Choral are the twentieth stanza of Paul Stockmann’s Passiontide Hymn, “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod” (see No. 11):
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 321 .Jesu, thou who knewest death (Jesu, der du warest todt)For Melchior Vulpius’ melody, “Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein,” see No. 11 supra. The words of the Choral are the thirty-fourth stanza of Paul Stockmann’s Passiontide Hymn, “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod” (see No. 11):
Form. The Choral (S.A.T.B.) is sung in eight detached phrases accompanying the Bass Aria (Organ and Continuo). No. 353 .Help us, Christ, Almighty Son (O hilf, Christe, Gottes Sohn)For the melody, “Christus, der uns selig macht,” see No. 12 supra. The words of the Choral are the eighth stanza of Michael Weisse’s Passiontide Hymn, “Christus, der uns selig macht” (see No. 12):
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo). No. 371 .Lord Jesus, thy dear Angel send (Ach Herr, lass dein lieb’ Engelein) Melody: “Herzlich Lieb hab’ ich dich, O Herr” Anon. 1577. The melody, “Herzlich Lieb hab’ ich dich, O Herr,” was first published in Bernhard Schmidt’s Zwey Bucher Einer Neuen Kunstlichen Tabulatur auf Orgel und Instrument, Strassburg, 1577. In Paschasius Reinigius’ Haus Kirchen Cantorei (Bautzen, 1587) it is associated with a Tenor, which moves almost uniformly in sixths below Schmidt’s treble, and is treated as the melody in Geistlich Kleinod (Leipzig, 1586). The melody is used elsewhere by Bach in two of the Cantatas: “Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg” (No. 149), for Michaelmas; and “Ich liebe den Hochsten” (No. 174), for Whitsuntide. There is another harmonisation of the tune in the Choralgesange, No. 152. The words of the Choral are the third stanza of Martin Schalling’s only known Hymn, “Herzlich Lieb hab’ ich dich, O Herr” (for the Dying). The Hymn was written circ. 1567 and was first published, with the germ of the melody, in Newe Symbola etlicher Fursten, Nurnberg, 1571. Schalling was born at Strassburg in 1532, educated at Wittenberg University, and in 1554 became deacon at Regensburg. Later he settled at Amberg in Bavaria, and was appointed General-Superintendent of the Bavarian Oberpfalz. In 1585 he became pastor of St Mary’s Church, Nurnberg. He died at Nurnberg in 1608:
English translations of the Hymn are noted in the Dictionary of Hymnology, pp. 1004, 1648. Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Organ, and Continuo)3 . |
