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Chorales BWV 250-438: Details and Recordings
Individual Recordings: Hilliard - Morimur | Chorales - N. Matt | Chorales - H. Rilling | Preludi ai Corali - Quartetto Italiani di Viola Da Gamba
Discussions: Motets & Chorales for Events in the LCY / Chorales by Theme | General Discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Chorales in Bach Cantatas: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Passion Chorale
References: Chorales BWV 250-300 | Chorales BWV 301-350 | Chorales BWV 351-400 | Chorales BWV 401-438 | 371 4-Part Chorales sorted by Breitkopf Number | Texts & Translations of Chorales BWV 250-438
Chorale Texts: Sorted by Title | Chorale Melodies: Sorted by Title | Explanation
MIDI files of the Chorales: Cantatas BWV 1-197 | Other Vocal Works BWV 225-248 | Chorales BWV 250-438
Articles: The Origin of the Texts of the Chorales [A. Schweitzer] | The Origin of the Melodies of the Chorales [A. Schweitzer] | The Chorale in the Church Service [A. Schweitzer] | Choral / Chorale [C.S. Terry] | Hidden Chorale Melody Allusions [T. Braatz] | The History of the Breitkopf Collection of J. S. Bach’s Four-Part Chorales [T. Braatz] | The World of the Bach Chorale Settings [W.L. Hoffman]
Hymnals: Hymnals used by Bach | Wagner Hymnal 1697 | Evangelisches Gesangbuch 1995 | Dietel Chorale List c1734
Abbreviations used for the Chorales | Links to other Sites about the Chorales


Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works
O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid

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

 

Melody & Text:

The hymn "O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid" (O darkest woe, o heart's pain), by Johann Rist, written for special use on Good Friday, is described as a “Klägliches Grab-Lied uber die trawrige Begräbnisse unseres Heylandes Jesu Christi.” This eight 5-line stanzas chorale is found in the NLGB as Passion hymn No. 73 (https://books.google.com/books?id=UmVkAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA156#v=onepage&q&f=false, and in the Schmelli Gesangbuch as No. 314, Good Friday. In Witt the hymn is set to its own melody, published, with the hymn, in 1641. The first stanza author is Friedrich von Spee to the associated melody (Mainz/Würzburg Gesangbuch 1628, Zahn 1915), Stanzas 2-6 by Johann Rist.

The last, eighth verse, "O Jesu du, mein Hilf und Ruh (O Jesus thou, my heart and rest) is the closing chorale in the St. Mark Passion (BWV 247) (No. 44), probably in the plain chorale setting, BWV 404 (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0404.htm). A fragment of the Orgelbüchlein setting (Ob. 29, Passion), BWV Anh. 200, is extant (completed, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcePnlcVZrg).
Another plain chorale setting, possibly by J.S. Bach, BWV deest, closes the "Keiser St. Mark Passion/Pasticcio (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV_deest_O_Traurigkeit.htm, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00018426).
The hymn closes the Carl Heinrich Graun 1730 Passion Oratorio, "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" (A Lambkin goes and bears the guilt), as well as the final stanza in the Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel first Gotha Passion Oratorio 1720, "Die leidende und am Kreuz sterbende Liebe," which J.S. Bach performed on April 23, 1734 in the Thomas Church. This G.H. Stölzel setting also has the aria "Bekennen will ich seinen Namen," BWV 200, originally attributed to J.S. Bach, but is a parody of the aria "Dein Kreuz, o Bräutgam meiner Seelen" (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000756).
Source: Good Friday Chorales (William L. Hoffman, March 31, 2018)

Melody: Zahn 1915
Composer: Anon (Mainz/Würzburg, 1628)

Text: O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid (NLGB 73; KGUG 20)
Author: verse 1: Friedrich Spee (Würzburg, 1628); verses 2-8: Johann Rist (1641)

Hymnal versions Bach may have known:

Melody & text of Das walt’ mein Gott, Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist (NLGB 73) from the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch, pp 156-158

 
 

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:

Text: O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid

Chorale O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid!, BWV 404
Ref: RE 57; Br 60; KE 288; Birnstiel 74; AmB 46II p.147 (M3 lower, f minor); Levy–Mendelssohn 17; Fasch p.20; BGA ; BC F165.1; CST 299

Chorale O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid, BWV deest, from Friedrich Nicolaus Brauns's Markus-Passion [previously attributed to Reinhard Keiser]

 

Untexted:

Chorale Prelude O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid, BWV Anh.200

A fragment from the Orgelbüchlein. J.S. Bach intended to use it, as the sketch of the opening bars in the Autograph shows.

 
 

Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:

There is a setting of the third stanza, "O Menschenkind, Nur deine Sünd'" (O sinful man! It was the ban," in George Frideric Handel's Brockes-Passion, HWV 48 (https://carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien/00/0322050/0322050x.pdf). Johannes Brahms set the hymn as a prelude and fugue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txLoPf8pBW0). There is a hymn setting in Franz Liszt's 1879 oratorio, Via crucis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNxdvFamo-g). There is a Heinrich von Herzogenberg motet setting http://www.musicalion.com/en/scores/sheet-music/5783/heinrich-von-herzogenberg/12634/o-traurigkeit-o-herzeleid-chorale-motet.

 
 

Sources: Bach Digital; BGA; Zahn; BCML discussions on BCW; Charles Sanford Terry's Bach Chorals books
Photos from Gottfried Vopelius: Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (Vopelius 1682) & Christian Friedrich Witt: Psalmodia Sacra, Oder: Andächtige und schöne Gesänge… (Gotha Hymnal, 1715), were taken from digital copies of the books downloaded from Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München. These copies are Out of copyright - non commercial re-use (Europeana Rights).
Prepared by Aryeh Oron (October 2018)


Chorales BWV 250-438: Details and Recordings
Individual Recordings: Hilliard - Morimur | Chorales - N. Matt | Chorales - H. Rilling | Preludi ai Corali - Quartetto Italiani di Viola Da Gamba
Discussions: Motets & Chorales for Events in the LCY / Chorales by Theme | General Discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Chorales in Bach Cantatas: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Passion Chorale
References: Chorales BWV 250-300 | Chorales BWV 301-350 | Chorales BWV 351-400 | Chorales BWV 401-438 | 371 4-Part Chorales sorted by Breitkopf Number | Texts & Translations of Chorales BWV 250-438
Chorale Texts: Sorted by Title | Chorale Melodies: Sorted by Title | Explanation
MIDI files of the Chorales: Cantatas BWV 1-197 | Other Vocal Works BWV 225-248 | Chorales BWV 250-438
Articles: The Origin of the Texts of the Chorales [A. Schweitzer] | The Origin of the Melodies of the Chorales [A. Schweitzer] | The Chorale in the Church Service [A. Schweitzer] | Choral / Chorale [C.S. Terry] | Hidden Chorale Melody Allusions [T. Braatz] | The History of the Breitkopf Collection of J. S. Bach’s Four-Part Chorales [T. Braatz] | The World of the Bach Chorale Settings [W.L. Hoffman]
Hymnals: Hymnals used by Bach | Wagner Hymnal 1697 | Evangelisches Gesangbuch 1995 | Dietel Chorale List c1734
Abbreviations used for the Chorales | Links to other Sites about the Chorales




 

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Last update: Thursday, February 03, 2022 04:43