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Subject Area: Music
Subject Area: Religion

APPENDIX I: Hymn Melodies that occur in the “Passions” and Oratorios but are not found in the Cantatas and Motetts - Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach’s Chorals, vol. 2 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts [1917]

Edition used:

Bach’s Chorals. Part I: 2 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts, by Charles Sanford Terry (Cambridge University Press, 1915-1921). 3 vols. Vol. 2.

Part of: Bach’s Chorals, 3 vols.

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APPENDIX I

Hymn Melodies that occur in the “Passions” and Oratorios but are not found in the Cantatas and Motetts

(1)

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Melody: “Christus, der uns selig macht”

“Patris Sapientia” 1531

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Melody: “Christus, der uns selig macht”

Reconstruction 1598

The melody, “Christus, der uns selig macht,” was first published in Ein New Gesengbuchlen (Jung Bunzlau, 1531), set to Michael Weisse’s free translation of the Hymn, “Patris sapientia, veritas divina.” The tune probably is an adaptation of that of the Latin original.

The melody occurs in the “St John Passion,” Nos. 12 and 35 (Choralgesänge, Nos. 49, 50). There is another harmonisation of it in the Choralgesange, No. 48. The last conforms to the 1531 text of the tune. The two settings in the “St John Passion” follow Seth Calvisius’ reconstruction of the melody, published in his Harmonia Cantionum ecclesiasticarum (Leipzig, 1598). Organ Works, N. xv. 64 (1531 version).

(2)

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Melody: “Es sind doch selig alle”

Matthaus Greitter 1525

The melody “Es sind doch selig alle,” or “O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde gross,” most probably was composed by Matthaus Greitter, and was published in Part III of the Strassburg Kirchēampt mit lobgsengen (Strassburg, 1525). It is set to Greitter’s Psalm cxix in the Strassburg Psalmen of 1526. Its association with Sebald Heyden’s Hymn, “O Mensch, bewein’,” dates from c. 1584.

The melody occurs in the “St Matthew Passion,” No. 35. There is another harmonisation of it in the Choralgesange, No. 286. Organ Works, N. xv. 69.

(3)

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Melody: “Gott des Himmels und der Erden”

Heinrich Albert 1642

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Melody: “Gott des Himmels und der Erden”

Reconstruction 16871

The melody, “Gott des Himmels und der Erden,” was composed by Heinrich Albert and was first published, with the Hymn (of which he was the author), in Part V of his Arien oder Melodeyen (Königsberg, 1642).

The melody occurs in the “Christmas Oratorio,” No. 53 (Choralgesange, No. 114). In the third bar (supra) Bach follows Daniel Vetter’s Hymn book (1713). His own closing cadence was prescribed by the fact that his Hymn text contained one syllable more than Albert’s original.

(4)

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Melody: “Herzliebster Jesu”

Johann Cruger 1640

The melody, “Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen,” was composed by Johann Crüger for that Hymn (by Johann Heermann), and was first published in his Newes vollkömliches Gesangbuch (Berlin, 1640).

The melody occurs in the “St Matthew Passion,” Nos. 3, 25, 55; and the “St John Passion,” Nos. 4, 15 (Choralgesange, Nos. 166-169). The F sharp which Bach introduces at the fifth note of the tune dates from 1694.

(5)

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Melody: “O Lamm Gottes unschuldig”

Nicolaus Decius 1542

Another form 1545

The melody, “O Lamm Gottes unschuldig,” was composed or adapted by Nicolaus Decius for his translation of the “Agnus Dei,” and was first published in the Christliche Kirchen-Ordnung (Erfurt, 1542).

The melody occurs in the “St Matthew Passion,” No. 1. There is a harmonisation of it in the Choralgesange, No. 285. Organ Works, N. xv. 58; xvii. 32. Bach generally follows a reconstruction of the melody in Johann Spangenberg’s Kirchengesenge Deudtsch (Magdeburg, 1545). In the Choral Prelude, N. xvii. 32, he prefers a later (1598) text.

(6)

lf1393-02_figure_218

Melody: “Vom Himmel hoch”

? Martin Luther 1539

The melody, “Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her,” is with probability attributed to Luther. It was first published, with the Hymn, in Valentin Schumann’s Geistliche lieder auffs new gebessert (Leipzig, 1539).

The melody occurs in the “Christmas Oratorio,” Nos. 9, 17, 23 (Choralgesange, No. 323). Organ Works, N. xv. 21; xix. 14, 16, 19. Bach also wrote a set of five Variations in Canon on the tune (N. xix. 73).

[1 ] Darmstadt Cantional.