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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) In dir ist Freude. - Bach's Chorals, vol. 3 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works
Return to Title Page for Bach’s Chorals, vol. 3 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ WorksThe Online Library of LibertyA project of Liberty Fund, Inc.In dir ist Freude. - Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach’s Chorals, vol. 3 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works [1921]Edition used:Bach’s Chorals. Part III: The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works, by Charles Sanford Terry (Cambridge University Press, 1915-1921). 3 vols. Vol. 3.
Part of: Bach’s Chorals, 3 vols.
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In dir ist Freude. Melody: “O Gott, mein Herre” G. G. Gastoldi 1609  Melody: “In dir ist Freude” Witt’s version 1715
The hymn, “In dir ist Freude,” is found first in Johann Lindemann’s Amorum Filii Dei decades duae, published, perhaps at Erfurt, in 1598. It is there entitled “Liebe zu Jesu” (A hymn of love for Jesus), the collection of twenty hymns being described in the subtitle as “Weyhenachten Gesenglein” (Little Christmas Songs). The hymn, which appears without any indication of its authorship, has been attributed to Lindemann himself, but cannot positively be regarded as his. Lindemann was born at Gotha circa 1550, and from 1571 or 1572 to 1631 held a post there which he describes on his title-page as “Der Kirchen und Schulen zu Gotha Cantor und Musicus” (Cantor and Musicus of the Churches and Schools at Gotha). He died after 1634. The hymn passed into general use as a Christmas hymn. The melody (supra), which at least from 1663 has been regarded as proper to the hymn, is by Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi. He was born at Caravaggio circa 1556, and was successively Capellmeister at Mantua and Milan (1592). He died at Milan in 1622. In 1591 Gastoldi published at Venice a set of “Balletti.” Among them is one entitled “L’innamorato: A lieta vita: à 5,” which, in 1609, was inserted as a hymn tune in David Spaiser’s Vier und zwainzig Geystliche Lieder, Sambt ihren aignenWelsch- und Teutschen Melodeyen. The tune is set there to Spaiser’s hymn, “O Gott, mein Herre,” whose eight-lined stanza the tune exactly fitted. In 1663, if not earlier1 , it was attached to Lindemann’s (?) hymn in Nikolaus Stenger’s Christlich-Neu-vermehrt und gebessertes Gesangbuch (Erfurt), each half of the tune being repeated in order to fit the sixteen-lined stanza. It is worthy of remark that three of Gastoldi’s dance measures (1591) passed into use as hymn tunes, and Spaiser included them all in his volume. One of them—“A lieta vita”—eventually was attached to “In dir ist Freude”; the other two also were set to Lindemann’s (?) texts: “Viver lieto voglio” to “Jesu, wollst uns weisen”; and “Questa dolce sirena” to “Wohlauf, ihr Musicanten.” Bach treats the melody in a single Organ movement: [71]N. xv. 45. The New Year Prelude pulses with joy, the basso ostinato being particularly animated. The trills in the last eight bars, Schweitzer supposes2 , “correspond to the ‘Alleluia’ of the text.” In fact the “Hallelujah” falls only in the last bar of the movement. The cantus is not clearly laid out in the movement. The first statement of the first half of the tune begins at bar 4 of the middle stave on page 45 of the Novello Edition and ends on bar 5 of the third stave. The repetition of the first half begins at bar 4 of the middle stave on page 46 and ends at the first bar on page 47. The first statement of the second half of the tune begins at bar 3 of the middle stave of page 47 and ends at the first bar of the second stave on page 48. The second statement of the second half begins at the second bar of the middle stave of page 48. Bach follows Witt’s (No. 62) text, which differs materially from the original1 . The Prelude, as Spitta points out2 , is a free handling of the melody in the manner of Bohm. Its brilliant executive requirements are somewhat foreign to the collection in which it occurs. Spitta therefore concluded that “undoubtedly” it is of an earlier date than the other contents of the Orgelbüchlein. But Bach’s evident reliance on Witt’s text affords a reason for challenging Spitta’s inference. [1 ]Chorale Book for England, No. 156. The original hymn has two stanzas. [1 ] According to Winkworth (Index, p. xi) the association is found in the Gotha Cantionale Sacrum of 1646. If so, Witt’s reconstruction of the tune is the more noteworthy in relation to Bach’s treatment of the melody. [2 ] Vol. ii. 69. [1 ] A harmonization of the 1609 melody is in the Chorale Book for England, No. 156. [2 ] Vol. i. 603. |
