Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt

Melody & Text | Use of the CM by Bach | Use of the CM by other composers | Arragements/Transcriptions

Melody & Text:

Composition: Zahn: 7549 | EKG: 243

This melody was first used on a broadside containing a song about the battle of Pavia on February 24, 1525. There the text incipit was: “Was wolln wir aber heben an” [“Why, then, do we want to raise {our voices?? our glasses??)?”] It was then transformed a few years later into a sacred chorale and appeared in “Geistliche Lieder” (edited by Joseph Klug) in Wittenberg, 1529. A copy of the latter book no longer exists. It appears that Spengler’s text was then already associated with this melody.

There is an early version of the chorale and text associated with each that dates from 1533 and was also published in Wittenberg:

A century later, the melody began to look like this in an unspecified hymnal from the 17^th century:

Hymnal versions Bach may have known:

A source that Bach may have used is the Gotha hymnal from 1715. There the melody appears in the following form:

Text: Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt | EKG: 243

The poet/author of the chorale text is Lazarus Spengler who lived from 1479-1534.

Spengler was born in Nürnberg and became a lawyer, took on a postion as city clerk and eventually became a city councilor in Nürnberg. He was a friend of Martin Luther’s and a staunch supporter of the Reformation. The earliest date for the appearance of Spengler’s text is 1524

Text Category:

The modern German hymnal has placed this chorale text under “Christian Belief and Christian Life” but both Scheidt and Pachelbel give the category “Von der Rechtfertigung” [“On the Subject of Vindication/Justification”] This is very likely the category to which Bach understood this chorale text to belong.

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:

Text: Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt | EKG: 243
Author: Lazarus Spengler (1524)

Ver

Work

Mvt.

Year

Br

RE

KE

Di

BC

Score

Music Examples

8

BWV 18

Mvt. 5

1713/15

100
126

73

100

-

F52:1
A44:5

PDF | PDFa

Mvt. 5 (MG) | Mvt. 5 a (MG) [midi] | Mvt. 5 (Leusink) [ram]

7

BWV 109

Mvt. 6

1723

-

-

-

-

A151:6

*

Mvt. 6 (Leusink) [ram]

BWV 109/6: A separate sample of the corno da caccia part that plays colla parte is presented separately because it differs from the cantus firmus in the soprano part.

Untexted:

Ver

Work

Mvt.

Year

Br

RE

KE

Di

BC

Score

Music Examples

-

BWV 637

-

-

-

-

-

K66

-

-

BWV 705

-

-

-

-

-

K133

-

-

BWV 1101

-

b 1710

-

-

-

-

K174

-

BWV 705 not accepted by NBA, BWV Verzeichnis still lists it as ‘of doubtful authenticity.’

Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:

Johann Dilliger (1593-1647):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, Setting for 8 voices (Magdeburg, 1615?)

Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, hymn for 4 voices (& continuo) (Cantional...)
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, cantata for 2 voices & continuo (Opella nova, Part 1, No. 26) (1618)

Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt a 4-pt. setting from “Tabulatur=Buch” (Görlitz, 1650).

Johann Heinrich Scheidemann (1595-1663):
Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt, Chorale for organ

Christoph Bernhard (1627/1628-1692):
Missa Durch Adams Fall a mass based on the chorale

Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707):
Chorale prelude for organ in the Dorian mode, Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, BuxWV 183

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (I), Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 28
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (II), Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 29
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (III), Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 30

Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, Chorale Prelude for Organ

Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1679-1735):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt Chorale Prelude for Organ (Leipzig, 1733). [This prelude used only the incipit].

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767):
Missa sopra Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, for 4 voices and bc, TWV 9:4
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (I), sacred cantata for chorus, oboe, strings & continuo, TWV 1:395 (1726)
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (II), sacred cantata for voice, chorus, strings & continuo, TWV 1:396

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784):
Durch Adams Fall, Chorale Prelude for Organ, F. 38/1/4 (BR A96)

Gottfried August Homilius (1714-1785):
Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt for organ & oboe

Günter Raphael (1903-1960):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, Chorale Prelude for Organ, op. 27, no. 2.

Arrangements/Transcriptions of Bach's use of the Chorale Melody:

Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924):
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verdebt, transcription for piano (after J.S. Bach, BWV 637; Ten Chorale Preludes No. 7), KiV B27/7

See list of Piano Transcriptions of BWV 615 & BWV 707 by various composers/arrangers at:
Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works - Index by BWV Number Part 4: Chorale Preludes for Organ

Sources: NBA, vols. III/2.1 & 2.2 in particular [Bärenreiter, 1954 to present] and the BWV ("Bach Werke Verzeichnis") [Breitkopf & Härtel, 1998]
The PDF files of the Chorales were contributed by Margaret Greentree J.S. Bach Chorales
Software: Capella 2004 Software, version 5.1.
Prepared by Thomas Braatz & Aryeh Oron (September 2005)