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William L. Hoffman wrote (September 23, 2017):
Bach’s Chistological cycle of sacred music came to fruition in the 1730s with two categories of major works: Latin Church Music and oratorios involving parodied compositions for the Saxon Court, as well as Lutheran chorales for the Leipzig congregations. In the first category, Bach in the early 1730s composed his first Mass: Kyrie-Gloria, BWV 232a, the beginning of his B-Minor Mass, while composing drammi per musica which would be parodied as oratorios for the major feast days. These were followed by the Missae: Kyrie-Gloria, BWV 233-236 in the late 1730s. By 1739, Bach had compiled four collections of chorale settings: the free-standing, four-part chorales, BWV 253-438; as well as the Schmelli Gesangbuch, BWV 439-508, of 1736; the Clavierübung III Catechism and Mass chorale preludes, BWV 669-689; and the “Great 18 Leipzig Chorales, BWV 651-658, composed in Weimar and updated beginning in 1739. The most important settings were the harmonizations of the service vernacular hymns in omne tempore Trinity Time.
Gloria in excelsis Deo
The most important Latin Church music was Bach’s “Gloria” settings. The section of the Mass Ordinary known as the “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” (Glory to God in the highest) is a liturgical setting found in the Lutheran and Catholic churches of Bach’s time (and today as well). Bach created five settings in Latin in the Missae: Kyrie-Gloria, BWV 232a-236, beginning in 1733, as well as in German, the motet chorus “Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe” in the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248/21 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83M-CKKSATQ). In addition, Part 4 of the Christmas Oratorio opens with a fugal chorus “Gloria” paraphrase, "Ehre sei Dir, Gott gesungen” (Let honour to you, God, be sung; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhNuQWO2vF0).
The “Gloria” beginning, also known as the “Choir of Angels” or Angelic Hymn, the Greater Doxology hymn of praises in the Psalm tradition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_in_excelsis_Deo), is found in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (KJV). In its full liturgical setting, the doxology continues as a Trinitarian expression first addressed to God, “We praise You, we bless You, we adore You, we glorify You.” Bach in the three Missae BWV 233a, 235-236, sets separately the phrase “Gratias agimus tibi” (we give You thanks for Your great glory), best known in the B-Minor Mass (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icyqDpAVaus).
The remained of the “Gloria” section of the Mass Ordinary (the second longest in the Mass Ordinary) is a triune prayer (anticipating the “Credo” central, longest portion), first to God the Father and then the Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is described as “Only-Begotten Son, Lord God (Domine Deus), Lamb of God, Son of the Father.” He is the symbolic sacrificial lamb addressed in the litany refrain, “have mercy on us,” which also is expressed in the opening “Kyrie eleison” (Lord have mercy) and the closing “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis” (Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” have mercy on us). In the Gloria as well as the “Agnus Dei,” the plea to Jesus Christ for mercy is repeated twice. The Son is further described as “sitting at the right hand of the Father,” and further addressed as “Holy One,” “alone the Lord,” “alone the Most High” (Altissimus), echoing the Angels’ words opening the “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” The Gloria ends addressing Jesus Christ, “cum Sancto Spiritu” (with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.”
As part of a “well-regulated (-appointed, -ordered) church music,” the “Gloria in excelsis Deo” is repeated as the beginning of Bach’s Latin Christmas Cantata, BWV 191, 1742-45, followed by the setting of the liturgical Triune Lesser Doxology, “Gloria Patri . . .” (Glory [be] to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ5vI0kzSZ0), and the “Sicut erat in principio . . .” (As it was in the beginning, and now, and always, and into the ages of ages. Amen”). All are taken from the “Gloria” of the B-Minor Mass,” with the last two phrases as contrafaction, respectively from the “Domine Deus” and the closing “Cum Sancto Spiritu." Cantata 191 is divided into two parts, before and after the sermon, suggesting a special services similar to the three services for the 200th anniversary of the Augsbug Confession, in 1730, with three Bach parodies of Cantatas BWV 190a, 120b, and Anh. 4a.
German Gloria, “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr”
Before the composition of his Latin “Gloria” in 1733 as the first part of the B-Minor Mass, Bach had composed a chorale-setting of the Nikolaus Decius 1523 BAR-form setting, “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr” (To God alone on high be glory), BWV 260, as part of Luther’s Deutsche Messe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyNtMbhYwEs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Sc-LOF7tE). Earlier, Bach in c.1727 had performed a bilingual setting of the Decius hymn, cousin Ludwig’s 1716 “Missa sopra cantilena, ‘Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr’,” BWV Anh. 166, which also uses the Decius melody.
The Decius hymn is set in four-stanza BAR form (see BCW text and Francis Browne English translation, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale092-Eng3.htm; BCW melody information, including Bach’s uses and those of other composers, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Allein-Gott-in-der-Hoh.htm). Decius wrote three stanzas, probably in 1523 at Braunschweig, while a fourth was added by Joachim Slüter in 1525, says Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allein_Gott_in_der_Höh_sei_Ehr). The first two stanzas describe God the Father in general terms, the third stanza describes Jesus Christ as “reconciler of those who were lost, appeaser of our discord,” and sacrificial “Lamb of God” (Agnus Dei); while the last stanza describes the Holy Spirit as consoler and protector (source, “Luther’s Deutsche Messe, Other Liturgical Chorales,” https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39329, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39330, July 20 2017 BCML Discussion).
Bach set the melody in various organ chorale prelude settings: in early miscellaneous chorale settings, BWV 711 (Kirnberger collection) and BWV 715-717; in the Orgelbüchlein as a Trinityfest prelude but not set (No. 58); in three versions in the “Great 18” (Weimar, with Leipzig revisions after 1739), BWV 662-664; and three times in the 1739 Clavierübung III, BWV 675-77. All three German Mass Gloria settings have allusion to the trinity with playful angels as set in chorale three-voice trios with different keys, meters, and styles: BWV 675 in F Major, 3/4, two-part manual invention (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9UQV-vJTmQ); BWV 676 in G Major, 6/8, pedal galant (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH2-unrCqYg); and BWV 677 in a minor, manual double-fughetta (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXbYeNxgJVs).
LudwigBach’s bilingual setting, BWV And. 166, was composed in 1716 and uses the melody in all five concise sections: Gloria, Laudamus te, Domine Fili, Quoniam, and Cum Sancto Spiritu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDtt1eJ4hbM, see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWVAnh167.htm). The c.1727 occasion is unknown (possibly a feast day main/vesper services). Bach’s sets the opening dictum as five-bar tenor chant and uses the cantus in the second soprano, observes Peter Wollny. The 17th century elements include “dense five-part string writing, block-like alternations of vocal and instrumental ensembles and the motet-like treatment of the cantus firmus,” says Wollny.1 A “more modern feature” is the “virtuosic writing” of the “Cum Sancto Spiritu.”
Although Bach did not compose a thorough, systematic setting of the Deutsche Messe, as he had with the Latin Mass Ordinary version in his B Minor Mass, he provided chorale four-part settings and organ preludes for all the five Mass Ordinary sections as part of a well-regulated church music.” The vocal settings are: “Kyrie Gott Vater in Ewigkeit,” BWV 371; “Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr’,” BWV 260; “Wir glauben all an einem Gott,” BWV 437; Sanctus, “Heilig, Heilig” (Holy, Holy), BWV 325; and Agnus Dei, “O Lamb Gottes unschuldig,” BWV 401, or the alternate “Christe, du Lamb Gottes,” BWV 23/4. Bach composed settings of four of these in the Clavierübung (CU) III, and used the modern Sanctus in place of the CU chorale, Luther’s “Jesaja, dem Propheten, das geschah.” In addition is, Luther’s Grant us Peace setting, “Verlieh uns Frieden,” which Bach harmonized in BWV 126/7 and 42/6 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyhb4YoPa2k).
Free-Standing Chorales, Liturgical Chorale Settings
Following completion of his three cantata church year cycles in 1727, Bach begun compiling four-part harmonizations that would be collected by son Emmanuel and published by Breitkopf in the 1780s. These 371 settings from his cantatas, oratorios, and motets include 186, free-standing hymns, BWV 253-483 (BGA Vol. 39, in Bach Compendium F).2, 3 Bach scholars thought these also were from the two cycles of cantatas not extant and presumably lost. Also called “independent,” “unattached” or “orphan” chorales, as Charles S. Terry noted:4 “frequently they are the survivors of otherwise lost Cantatas.” Meanwhile, “almost all their hymns were popular during the period 1730-1750 and were admitted into the Leipzig hymnbooks in that period.” “They were written for the Leipzig churches, in some cases for the projected expansion of the Schmelli Hymn-book.” This suggests that they were contemporary hymns, appearing after 1715 when the Christian Friedrich Witt Gotha hymnal, Psalmodia sacra, was published.
Contemporary, Liturgical Chorales
A further examination of these 186 free-standing hymns shows that many were appropriate for Trinity Time and had contemporary pietistic texts, composed after 1650, and some also found in the Schmelli Gesangbuch of 1736, for which Bach provided the musical settings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_and_arias_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach). At the other end of the spectrum, chronologically and thematically, are the liturgical chorales, particularly the Deutsche Messe settings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOw37KK7EYE).
Bach’s chorale settings as a “well-regulated church music” can best be approached through the church year categories arranged in his Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB)5 of 1682 and divided into two main sections, de tempore, the first half of the church year (NLGB Nos. 1-169), and omne tempore, the second half of the church (NLGB Nos.170-432), also known as Trinity Time or Ordinary Time. Bach’s chorale listings are found in his Orgelbüchlein, organ chorale prelude collection composed in Weimar, that is a template for chorales throughout the church year. It lists 164 incipits in church year order but only 46 are set, BWV 599-644, with 36 in the de tempore (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgelbüchlein, http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/the-missing-chorales//).
Until 1730, Bach’s chorale settings has focused on the de tempore hymns for two essential reasons. The earliest Reformation chorales were core Lutheran hymns for the Christological feast days, often vernacular settings from the Latin by Martin Luther, as well as original liturgical settings of the Catechism as created by the Luther circle. These were the most popular and succeeding composers set the melodies to new, different texts as well as creating alternate melodies to the old texts. Beginning about 1700 with the proto-cantata vocal concertos that invariably had established chorales, composers of cantata cycles set libretti often with favored popular hymns, beginning in 1711. Bach, like Telemann, Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, and other contemporaries, set their cantatas after 1723 increasingly with more contemporary chorales.
Bach’s systematic settings of omne tempore chorales was undertaken in the 1730s within the four collections of chorale settings. The 186 free-standing plain chorale harmonizations, BWV 253-438 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chorale_harmonisations_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach), were followed with 69 sacred song settings for the Schmelli Gesangbuch, BWV 439-508, in 1736, with emphasis on pietistic theme in later Trinity Time. Then, Bach began composition of the Clavierübung III collection of organ chorales on the Catechism and German Mass, BWV 552, 669-689,802-805 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavier-Übung_III; https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39323, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39327). Following its publication in 1739 during the Leipzig bicentennial of the city’s acceptance of the Reformation, Bach updating organ preludes in the collection of so-called “Great 18 Leipzig Chorales, BWV 651-658, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Eighteen_Chorale_Preludes), most being Reformation hymns (12) with liturgical and feast-day applications.
Free-Standing Liturgical Chorales
The omne tempore section of the NLGB begins with liturgical chorales appropriate for various services. First are the Catechism hymns on Page 490, with the Ten Commandments. In Bach’s Weimar Orgelbüchlein, this section also begins with three Ten Commandment Catechism hymns, OB No. 61, BWV 635, “Die sind die heilige Zehn Gebot,” which Bach also set as an independent plain chorale, BWV 298. The next, OB 62, is “Mensch, willst du leben seliglich” (Zahn 1956), was not set by Bach while the associated Luther melody (OB 61) is found in Gotha (1715). The next OB setting No. 63, “Herr Gott, erhalt’ uns für und für, die reine Katechismuslehr: Gotha (1715, Zahn, 443), was not set by Bach but was associated with other possible popular tunes: “Herr Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht” (OB 139) and “Erhalt uns, Herr, by deinem Wort” (OB122). The next three Catechism hymns in the Orgelbüchlein were set by Bach as Clavierübung III preludes, as well as plain chorales: Creed, OB 64, “Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott,” plain chorale BWV 437; Lord’s Prayer, OB 65, BWV 636, “Vater unser im Himmelreich,” as plain chorale BWV 416; and Holy Baptism, OB 66, “Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam,” as plain choBWV 280.
The Helmut Rilling collection of Bach Chorale settings includes in vol. 81 (CH-8), Deutsche Messe (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV250-438-Rilling.htm), the German Mass settings found in the CU III and plain chorales, as well as two settings as main service preludes: “Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend,” OB 49, BWV 632 (Pentecost), as well as plain chorale BWV 332, and the Great 18” as BWV 655 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herr_Jesu_Christ,_dich_zu_uns_wend)); and “Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier,” OB 61, 62 (BWV 634, 633), plain chorale BWV 373. The Passiontide chorale, “O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig” OB 21, BWV 618, also appropriate as a closing “Agnus Dei” setting, is set as plain chorale, BWV 401, as well as “Great 18,” BWV 656 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Lamm_Gottes,_unschuldig).
Another chorale, Luther’s “Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet,” (May God be praised and blest) has multiple liturgical uses, first as a main service blessing hymn, then as a communion hymn (NLGB 185, OB 79, not set), and also as a baptism hymn (texts, http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/luther-the-hymns-of-martin-luther), and Bach’s plain chorale setting, BWV 322 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qfbLwB8GRM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxY4Fqp4xqw). Also used as a communion hymn is Luther’s “Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, der von uns den Gotteszorn wandt”6 (NLGB 184), Ob 78 not set, but set as a plain chorale, BWV 363 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsZnR28MYWU), and as “Great 18” chorales, BWV 665-6.
The other liturgical blessing hymn is the German Te Deum, Luther’s “Herr Gott, dich loben wir” (NLGB 167, Apostles’ feast), used in Bach for New Year’s Day and the annual Town Council installation (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Das-Tedeum.htm), as well as the melody in plain chorale BWV 328 and Miscellaneous organ chorale prelude, BWV 728. In Cantatas BWV 16/1,119/9, 190/1,2, 16/1, and 120/6, Bach uses only portions of Luther’s melody (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale036-Eng3.htm). Only the full text (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale036-Eng3.htm) and setting are accommodated in BWV 328 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale036-Eng3.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoYJ6oqzV4M).
Psalm Liturgy Chorales
There are other Bach plain chorale settings appropriate as service liturgy, primarily the numerous psalm paraphrases of penitential (sometimes pietistic), communion, and other psalms (see “Christological Cycle: Penitential/Communion Chorales,” https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39333 (BCML July 24, 2017). Penitential free-standing chorales are BWV 352-4, 261, 255, 334, 270-71; pietist-penitential chorales are 259, 275, 304, 330-31; communion chorales are 363, 322, 388, 389-90; other Psalm settings (267, 271, 308, 302-3, 311-12, 256-58, 286, 338, 323, 372, 374, 272, 427, 438.
A separate category of liturgically-based paraphrase psalm hymns is found in Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB) under the rubric of “Cross, Persecution & Tribulation” (NLGB Nos. 275-304), following “Christian Life and Conduct” (NLGB Nos. 234-274 and in the Orgelbüchlein as Psalm Hymns (OB 114-119), following Christian Life and Conduct. (OB 87-113). These hymns, not set by Bach in the OB, also are found in other chorale books under the category The Church Militant. They are:
114. “Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein” (Psalm 12, Luther); CC BWV 2, BWV 741(MC).
115. “Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl” (Psalm 14); BWV 308.
116. “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” (NLGB No. 255, Christian Life, Psalm 46, Luther); CC BWV 80, BWV 720(MC); BWV 247/38=302-03(PC).*
117. “Es woll’ uns Gott gnädig sein” (Psalm 67); BWV 311-12(PC).*
118. “War’ Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit” (Psalm 124); CC BWV 14(Ep.4).
119. “Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält”; (Psalm 124,N LGB 698 Z4437), CC BWV 178, BWV 257(PC)=?247/26, BWV 258(PC)=?247/3; BWV 1128=Anh. II 71(MC); melody “Ach lieben Christen sei getrost”; CC BWV 114, BWV 256(PC).*
-- “Danket den Herren, denn er ist so freundlich” (Psalm 136); BWV 286(PC).*
-- “Der Herr ist meine Getreue Hirt, dem ich” (Psalm 23, mel.”Allein Gott”); BWV 83/3 aria, BWV 104/6(PC).
-- “Der Herr ist meine Getreue Hirt, hält mir” (Psalm 23, mel. “Allein Gott” OB 53), CC BWV 112(Es.1).
-- “Herr, straf mich nich in deinem Zorn” (Psalm 6), BWV 338(PC).*
-- “Gott sei uns gnädig und barmherzig” (Psalm 67), BWV 323(PC).*
-- “Laß, o Herr, der Ohr sich neigen” (Psalm 86), BWV 372(PC).*
-- “Lobet den Herren, denn er ist so freundlich” (Psalm 147), BWV 374(PC).*
-- “Lobet Gott, unsern Herren” (Psalm 150), melody “Befiehl du deine Wege,” BWV 272(PC); BWV 1126(PC).*
-- “Wenn ich in Angst und Not” (Psalm 121), BWV 427(PC).*
-- "Wo Gott zum Haus nicht gibt sein Gunst" (Psalm 127); BWV 438(PC), BWV 1123(PC).*
Eleven of these chorales (*) are found in Rilling’s vol. 82 (CH-9), Book of Chorales for . . . Psalms, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV250-438-Rilling.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG_53zeSvg&t=19s. With the exceptions of “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” and “Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält,” these hymns were sparingly set by Bach, almost all as free-standing chorales or two just as chorale cantatas (BWV 2 and 14, OB 114 & 118). Further, these two popular hymns appeared as plain chorale settings in the St. Mark Passion, as did a number of other free-standing chorales under the rubric Christian Life and Conduct, many of the 16 with a pietistic flavor. The St. Mark Passion, BWV 247, Bach’s last, composed in 1731, uses a variety of non-Passiontide chorales, as does the Bach apocryphal St. Luke Passion, BWV 246, possibly presented in Leipzig in 1730. While Picander’s text of BWV 247 survives with the actual stanzas, many multiple settings of the same chorale make it difficult to identify the specific, free-standing harmonization.
A review of the surrounding chorales in the NLGB during Trinity Time, with the theme of Christian Life and Conduct, shows that hymn books in Bach’s day in Leipzig increasingly carried newer hymns favored by pietists with the import of thanksgiving turning more toward Times of Trouble: Christian Life and Conduct: 426, 417-19, 433, 399, 263, 268, 291, 301, 379-80, 386; and Times of Trouble or Thanks: 1089, 431-2, 420, 254, 369, 434, 367, 427, 417-9, 435, 424 (see Chorales: Psalms, Christian Life, Troubles, Thanks, Weddings, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39335).
Word of God & Christian Church
The next category in the NLGB is The Word of God and the Christian Church (NLGB 305-22), found as well in the Orgelbüchlein as OB 120-126, but in other hymn books as “God’s Holy Word” and “In Time of War.”:
God’s Holy Word
120. “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (NLGB 313, Word of God & Christian Church, Trinity 20); CC BWV 1(Ann.), BWV 436 (PC), 739(MC); BWV 763 (MC).
121. “Wie nach einer Wasserquelle” (no NLGB); BWV 1119(NC); Anh. 50(MC).
122. “Erhalt’ uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort” (Zahn 1945); BWV 1103(NC); BWV 126 (C); BWV 6/6 (PC), BWV deest (BWV Anh. 50).
123. “Lass’ mich dein sein und bleiben” (NLGB 321, Word of God) (Zahn 5427); BWV 742 (MC, mel. “”Herzlich tut, mich verlangen” (BWV 724).
--- “Nimm von uns, Herr, die treuer Gott” (mel. “Vater unser im Himmelreich); CC BWV 101.
--- “Keinen hat Gott verlassen” (NLGB 292, Cross, Zahn 5349); BWV 247/41=BWV 369(PC).
--- “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme”; CC BWV 140 (Tr.27).
--- “Wer Gott vertraut, hat wohl gebaut” (NLGB 276, Cross); BWV 433(PC).
In Time of War
124. “Gieb Fried’, O frommer, treuer Gott” (Zahn 7572), http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/124-Gib-Fried-o-frommer-treuer-Gott.pdf), not set by Bach.
125. “Du Friedefurst, Herr Jesu Christ”; CC BWV 116, BWV 1102(NC).
126. “O grosser Gott von Macht (NLGB 302, Persecution, Zahn 5101a); BWV 46/6(PC); BWV deest?.
Under these two categories, Bach made few free-standing chorales: “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (OB 120), BWV 436, which may be the only remnant of Cantata BWV Anh. 199/3 for Annunciation 1724 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh199.htm; text only, http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/facs427.html); “Keinen hat Gott verlassen,” BWV 369, in all likelihood in the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247/41 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06dFUxgFzYM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctJVrmvvtHU; text https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/369.html&prev=search); and “Wer Gott vertraut, hat wohl gebaut” (NLGB 276, Cross; Zahn 5394); BWV 433(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wFmo_dApQI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnapmeV5_P8; text, https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000503&prev=search, Link to the Text.
Discussion leader’s note: The remaining Bach free-standing chorale settings, listed in the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB Nos. 322-432) and the Orgelbüchlein (OB 127-164), are focused on Later Trinity Time eschatological themes of Judgement, Death, Morning and Evening Hymns, and Last Days and Eternal Life. They will be discussed in the Bach Cantata Mailing Listing (BCML) later this year, along with the discussions of memorial occasional cantatas, based on Martin Petzoldt’s forthcoming Bach-Kommentar, vol. 3 (https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/suche/quicksearch/query/Martin%20Petzoldt%20Vol.%203/), when it is available. The Bach chorales in his Passions will be discussed separately during Lent 2018, including those in the St. Mark Passion. Meanwhile, the current discussion will consider the remaining portions of the B-Minor Mass, the Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, including possible contrafaction sources, as Christological music of joy and sorrow. Petzoldt’s Bach Kommentar, vol. 4, Latin Church Music and Motets, may be released in 2018.
FOOTNOTES
1 Peter Wollny, 2004 liner notes, “Johann Ludwig Bach — Cantatas, Mass,” trans. J. & M. Berridge (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Max.htm, scroll down to P-3).
2 The free-standing chorales, BWV 253-438, are recorded by Helmut Rilling alphabetically, melody incipit: Chorales A-C, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s63VGPLXlWw; Chorales D-G, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNLeCNmHpA8; Chorales, H-M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-jckE8a9u8, and Chorales N-W, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tSJpqYEQIM, as well as by BWV number: Chorales BWV 253-301, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_c_JjNdu9M; Chorales 302-341, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhRc4IrJFn4&index=2&list=RDW_c_JjNdu9M; and Chorales 342-438, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dazumLRmZNk&index=3&list=RDW_c_JjNdu9M.
3 These chorales, BWV 253-438 are found on pages 99-177 in Luke Dahn, J. S. Bach Chorales, Dahn Edition of the Bach Chorales (LuxSitPress: June 2017, http://www.bach-chorales.com/PDF/Bach_Chorales_Dahn_Edition_Sample.pdf; The Four–Part Chorales of J.S. Bach, http://www.bach-chorales.com/Index.htm. See also, Luke Dahn, “Speculations Regarding the Original Liturgical Occasions of the Individual BWV 253–438 Chorales,” http://www.bach-chorales.com/SpeculationsRegardingIndividualChorales.htm.
4 Charles S. Terry, The Four-Part Chorales of J. S. Bach, With the German Text of the Hymns and English Translations; Edited, with an historical Introduction, Notes, and critical Appendices (London: Oxford University Press, 1929 (reprinted 1954). Also see on line Terry’s Bach Chorales, 3 vols.: vol. 1 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios (1915), http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/bach-bachs-chorals-vol-1-the-hymns-and-hymn-melodies-of-the-passions-and-oratorios, vol. 2 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts (1917), http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/bach-bachs-chorals-vol-2-the-hymns-and-hymn-melodies-of-the-cantatas-and-motetts; and vol. 3 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works (1921), http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/bach-bachs-chorals-vol-3-the-hymns-and-hymn-melodies-of-the-organ-works).
5 Das Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB) of 1682 (https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neu_Leipziger_Gesangbuch&prev=search, http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/resolve/display/bsb10592508.html.
6 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christus,_unser_Heiland,_der_von_uns_den_Gotteszorn_wandt; Christological Cycle: Penitential/Communion Chorales, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39333. |
