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

Melody & Text: Zahn: 4482a,b | EKG: 313

Melody:

The melody first appeared in print in “Kirchen Gesang”, Frankfurt am Main, 1569. Just what Nikolaus Herman’s contribution to the formation of this melody still needs to be determined. It seems to have been influenced by numerous secular sources from the 15^th century such as Zahn 4477a.

Early Chorale Melody Sources:

An early use of the melody is found in a 4-pt. setting by Hans Leo Haßler printed in 1607. It looks like this:

Samuel Scheidt gives us a mid-17^th century form of this melody as follows:

Another sample comes from an unspecified hymnal from the latter half of the 17^th century. It looks like this:

Another use of the melody that Bach may have been acquainted with comes from the pen of Johann Pachelbel:

Text: Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist | EKG: 313

Nikolaus Herman (1480-1561) is the author of this text which appeared with the melody described above. A 5^th verse was added later and appeared in Bonn, 1575.

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:

Text: Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist | EKG: 313
Author: Nikolaus Herman (1569 - verses 1-4); (1575 - verse 5)

Ver

Work

Mvt.

Year

Br

RE

KE

Di

BC

Score

Music Examples

5

BWV 31

Mvt. 9

1715

-

357

-

78

A55:9

PDF

Mvt. 9 (MG) [midi] | Mvt. 9 (Leusink) [ram]

4

BWV 95

Mvt. 7

1723

-

356

89

A136:7

PDF

Mvt. 7 (MG) [midi] | Mvt. 7 (Leusink) [ram]

Untexted:

Ver

Work

Mvt.

Year

Br

RE

KE

Di

BC

Score

Music Examples

-

BWV 31

Mvt. 8

1715

-

-

-

-

A55:8

-

Mvt. 8 (Leusink) [ram]

-

BWV 428

-

?

321

353

322

-

F201:1

PDF

Chorale (MG) [midi]

-

BWV 429

-

?

51

354

52

132

F201:2

PDF

Chorale (MG) [midi]

-

BWV 430

-

?

350

355

351

97

F201:3

PDF

Chorale (MG) [midi]

Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:

Hans Leo Haßler (1564-1612):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, 4 voices (1607). See: Score

Hieronymus Praetorius (1560-1629):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, Chorale Prelude for Organ (1624)

Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, SATB [bc], 1627; A ii/2, 59 (Schein may be using a different melody for this text)

Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist 4-pt. setting, SSWV 518 (1650). See: Score

Sebastian Knüpfer (1633-1676):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, Cantata for 4 voices, ripieno 4 voices, 2 violins, 2 violas, violone, bc:

Daniel Eberlin (1647 - between 1713-1715):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, Cantata for 4 voices, 2 flutes, violone, bc

Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, Cantata (lost) for 5 voices, instruments

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 68. See: Score

Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1679-1735):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist Chorale Prelude for Organ from Harmonische Seelenlust (Leipzig, 1733)

Johann Ludwig Krebs (1714-1780):
Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, Chorale for Organ

Robert Schumann (1810-1856):
A harmonization of the chorale Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist composed during his final years (1856?).
Robert Schumann’s arrangement (1856?) of the chorale “Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist” for mixed voices/chorus is contained as a facsimile in R. Taylor’s book, “Robert Schumann: his Life and Work” London, 1982. It does not seem to have been published as yet, so this is the only source where it can be found.

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)