Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid

(Redirected from Zahn 533)

"Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" (Oh God, how much heartache) is a hymn in German in 18 stanzas attributed to Martin Moller (1587).[1] It is often catalogued as a paraphrase of the Latin "Jesu dulcis memoria", a medieval hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux,[2] but only a few lines refer directly to this song. Hymn tunes were composed for the hymn (Zahn Nos. 547–549),[3]: 154 and it is also often sung to a tune composed for "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" (Zahn No. 533).[3]: 150 The anonymous hymn tune of "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" first appeared in Wolflein Lochamer's Lochamer-Liederbuch, printed in Nürnberg around 1455.[4][5][6] In Leipzig in the 1720s, Johann Sebastian Bach composed settings of Lochamer's hymn based on four of his church cantatas and a sacred motet.[7][8]

"Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid"
Hymn
Anon melody, Lochamer-Liederbuch (c. 1455)
EnglishOh God, how much heartache
CatalogueZahn 533, 547–549
Textby Martin Moller
LanguageGerman
Published1587 (1587)

Musical settings and harmonization

edit

Johann Sebastian Bach used the final three stanzas of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid to conclude Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, BWV 153, a church cantata composed for the Sunday after New Year's Day, 2 January 1724,[9] and the first stanza of the hymn as movement 4 of Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 44, for Exaudi, the Sunday after Ascension, 21 May 1724.[1][10]

The entire hymn is also the base for Bach's Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3, a chorale cantata composed in Leipzig for the second Sunday after Epiphany, 14 January 1725.[11][12] Bach also used the melody in two movements of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 58, a cantata for the Sunday after New Year's Day, 5 January 1727,[13] and he used the melody with the hymn text "O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" for the eponymous motet (BWV 118).[14]

 

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid / Text and Translation of Chorale". bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  2. ^ Hofmann, Klaus (2005). "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3 / Oh God, how many a heartfelt woe" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 9. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  3. ^ a b Zahn, Johannes (1889). Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder (in German). Vol. I. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann.
  4. ^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Herr (or O) Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht". Bach Cantatas Website. 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  5. ^ Spriewald, Ingeborg, ed. (1982), All mein Gedanken, die ich hab: deutsche Lieder des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, Union Verlag
  6. ^ Fix, Ulla (2007), Barz, Irmhild (ed.), Stil—ein sprachliches und soziales Phänomen: Beiträge zur Stilistik, Sprachwissenschaft, vol. 3, Frank & Timme, p. 367, ISBN 9783865961389
  7. ^ Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4.
  8. ^ Melamed, Daniel R. (1995), J. S. Bach and the German Motet, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521418645
  9. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 162–166
  10. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 340–343
  11. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 194–197
  12. ^ BWV 3.6 at Luke Dahn's www.bach-chorales.com (2019)
  13. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 166–169
  14. ^ Melamed 1995, pp. 22–27