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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) THE ASCENSION ORATORIO (Cantata 11, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen ) ( circ. 1736) - 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 ASCENSION ORATORIO (Cantata 11, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen ) ( circ. 1736) - 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 ASCENSION ORATORIO
No. 6.Now at thy feet creation lies1 (Nun lieget alles unter dir)For Johann Schop’s (see “St Matthew Passion,” No. 48) melody, “Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist,” see the “Christmas Oratorio,” No. 12. The words of the Choral are the fourth stanza of Johann Rist’s (see the “St Matthew Passion,” No. 48) Eucharistic Hymn, “Du Lebensfurst, Herr Jesu Christ.” It was first published in Rist’s Himlischer Lieder, Pt i., Lüneburg, 1641:
Form. Simple (2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Continuo). No. 11.When will the night be over? (Wann soll es doch geschehen) Melody: “Von Gott will ich nicht lassen” Anon. 1572 [1571] * A syllable is wanting in the third period of the melody.  Melody: “Helft mir Gott’s Gute preisen” Anon. 1575 [1569] The two melodies, “Von Gott will ich nicht lassen” and “Helft mir Gott’s Gute preisen,” have a common origin and are practically identical. Their source is the tune of the secular song “Ich ging einmal spazieren,” to which Ludwig Helmbold (1532-98) wrote his Hymn “Von Gott” c. 1563. In Joachim Magdeburg’s Christliche und Trostliche Tischgesenge (Erfurt, 1572 [1571]) the tune was printed in association with Helmbold’s Hymn. In the same period Wolfgang Figulus (c. 1520-91), at that time Cantor in the Furstenschule at Meissen, published two versions of the melody in his Weynacht Liedlein (Frankfort on the Oder, 1575 [1569]) in association with Paul Eber’s (1511-69) Hymn, “Helft mir Gott’s Gute preisen.” The second of them was in four-part harmony, whose Tenor has been represented as the true melody. Carl von Winterfeld (Der evangelische Kirchengesang, i. 420) attributes the tune to Johann Eccard (1553-1611). Bach uses the melody “Von Gott” in the putative and unfinished Cantata, “Lobt ihn mit Herz und Munde,” and in the Cantatas, “Herr, wie du willt, so shick’s mit mir” (No. 73), for the Third Sunday after Epiphany; and “Was willst du dich betrüben” (No. 107), for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity. In the Choralgesange there are three other harmonisations of the tune, Nos. 324, 325, and 326. The melody “Helft mir” appears in the Cantatas “Herr Gott, dich loben, wir” (No. 16), for the Feast of the Circumcision; “Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende” (No. 28), for Christmas; and “Sie werden euch in den Bann thun” (No. 183), for the Sixth Sunday after Easter. The words of the Choral are the seventh and last stanza of Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer’s Ascension Hymn, “Gott fahret auf gen Himmel.” Sacer was born at Naumburg in 1635, and was educated at Jena University. He abandoned a military career for the law, settled at Wolfenbüttel in 1683 as Kammer-und-Amts-advocat, and died there in 1699. His Hymns, which he began to publish in 1661, were collected and posthumously issued (Geistliche, liebliche Lieder, Gotha, 1714):
English translations of the Hymn are noted in the Dictionary of Hymnology, p. 984. Form. Choral Fantasia (3 Trombe, Timpani, 2 Fl., 2 Ob., Strings, Continuo). cambridge: printed by john clay, m.a. at the university press [1 ] Albert Schweitzer, J. S. Bach (1911), trans. Ernest Newman, vol. i. 15. [1 ] P. 412. [1 ] See J. S. Bach’s Werke,vii,Choralgesange (Breitkopf & Haertel), Vorwort (1898). The enumeration only includes Bach’s simple, hymn-form, settings. [2 ] But see p. 44. [1 ] The suffixed numeral indicates the number of times Bach uses the hymn or melody. The capital shows where he uses it; M and J standing for the two “Passions,” C for the Christmas, and A for the Ascension Oratorio. A prefixed † indicates that Bach has illustrated the melody in his Organ Preludes, Variations, or Fantasias. A prefixed * indicates that the melody is treated in Bach’s Little Organ Book (Orgelbuchlein). [1 ] Melody quoted as “Es sind doch selig alle.” [2 ] In the Orgelbuchlein as “O Mensch, bewein’.” [3 ] In the Orgelbuchlein as “Helft mir Gott’s Gute preisen.” [1 ]Op. cit. vol. i. 16-22. [1 ] The English titles are those in the Elgar-Atkins edition of the Oratorio, published by Novello & Co. [1 ] 1539 gefunden. [1 ] 1630 scharff. [1 ] 1630 Was ist doch wol die Ursach solcher Plagen? [2 ] 1630 Ach Herr Jesu, ich hab dies wol verschuldet. [3 ] Sung to the words of the French chanson: Il me souffit de tous mes maulxPuis qu’ils m’ont liure a mort.I’ay endure peine et trauaulx,Tant de douleur et desconfort.Que voules vous que ie vous facePour estre en vostre grace?De douleur mon cœui si est mortSi ne voit vostre face.[1 ] 1554 allerbeste. [2 ] 1554 Er trost die Welt. [1 ] 1533 dicht. [2 ] 1647 Ubelthaten. [1 ] 1656 Weltgenrichte. [1 ] 1656 mich. [2 ] B.G. xli. 201 prints the original closing Choral of Part I of the Oratorio, the sixth and last stanza of Christian Keimann’s (1607-62) Hymn, “Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht.” The melody is Andreas Hammerschmidt’s (1612-75). It is No. 247 of the Choralgesange. [1 ] No. 7 in Peters’ edition. [2 ] The English titles are those of the Rev. J. Troutbeck’s version, published by Novello & Co. [1 ] No. 9, Peters’ edition. [1 ] No. 15, Peters’ edition. [1 ] 1647 Ubelthaten. [2 ] No. 20, Peters’ edition. [1 ] No. 21, Peters’ edition. [1 ] 1531 Wart für uns zur Mitternacht. [1 ] No. 27, Peters’ edition. [2 ] 1630 vermag es auszudenken. [1 ] No. 40, Peters’ edition. [1 ] No. 52, Peters’ edition. [1 ] No. 56. Peters’ edition. [1 ] No. 60, Peters’ edition. [2 ] 1633 hin mich wende. [3 ] No. 65, Peters’ edition. [1 ] No. 68, Peters’ edition. [1 ] 1571 An meinem End mein Seelelein. [2 ] 1571 und mein. [3 ] Appendix A of the Bach-Gesellschaft Full-Score is a movement (Arie und Choral), in which the 33rd stanza (Jesu, deine Passion Ist mir lauter Freude) of Paul Stockmann’s “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod” is set to Melchior Vulpius’ melody (see No. 11 supra). The movement was discarded by Bach in the later versions of the Oratorio. [1 ] The English titles are from the Rev. J. Troutbeck’s version, published by Novello & Co. [1 ] 1524 Und nun. [1 ] It is printed as No. 298 of Ludwig Erk’s Choralgesange und geistliche Arien (Peters), 2 vols., 1850-65. [1 ] 1641 du. [1 ] 1653 heut. [1 ] 1642 All mein. [2 ] 1642 Mein Erlosung, Schmuck und Heil. [1 ] 1642 nie mich. [1 ] 1642 in. [1 ] Erk, op. cit., No. 272, prints the same version in A major. [1 ] The titles are those of Paul England’s version (Novello & Co.). [1 ] 1714 wir ihn werden. |
