Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
"Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" (Oh God, how much heartache) is a German hymn 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) | |
English | Oh God, how much heartache |
Catalogue | Zahn 533, 547–549 |
Text | by Martin Moller |
Language | German |
Published | 1587 |
Musical settings and harmonization
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 "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" for BWV 118, a motet named after that hymn.[14]
References
- "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid / Text and Translation of Chorale". bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- Hofmann, Klaus (2005). "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3 / Oh God, how many a heartfelt woe" (PDF). bach-cantatas.com. p. 9. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
- Zahn, Johannes (1889). Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder (in German). I. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann.
- "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Herr (or O) Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht". bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- Spriewald, Ingeborg, ed. (1982), All mein Gedanken, die ich hab: deutsche Lieder des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, Union Verlag
- Fix, Ulla (2007), Barz, Irmhild (ed.), Stil—ein sprachliches und soziales Phänomen: Beiträge zur Stilistik, Sprachwissenschaft, 3, Frank & Timme, p. 367, ISBN 9783865961389
- 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Melamed, Daniel R. (1995), J. S. Bach and the German Motet, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521418645
- Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 162-166
- Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 340-343
- Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 194-197
- BWV 3.6 at Luke Dahn's www
.bach-chorales (2019).com - Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 166-169
- Melamed 1995, pp. 22-27