Chorale Melody - Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt

Chorale Melodies: Sorted by Title | 371 4-Part Chorales sorted by Breitkopf Number | Explanation

Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt
Melody & Text \| Use of the CM by Bach \| Use of the CM by other composers \| Arragements/Transcriptions

Melody & Text:
Composition: Zahn: 7549 \| EKG: 243
This melody was first used on a broadside containing a song about the battle of Pavia on February 24, 1525. There the text incipit was: “Was wolln wir aber heben an” [“Why, then, do we want to raise {our voices?? our glasses??)?”] It was then transformed a few years later into a sacred chorale and appeared in “Geistliche Lieder” (edited by Joseph Klug) in Wittenberg, 1529. A copy of the latter book no longer exists. It appears that Spengler’s text was then already associated with this melody. There is an early version of the chorale and text associated with each that dates from 1533 and was also published in Wittenberg:

A century later, the melody began to look like this in an unspecified hymnal from the 17^th century:


Hymnal versions Bach may have known:
A source that Bach may have used is the Gotha hymnal from 1715. There the melody appears in the following form:


Text: Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt \| EKG: 243
The poet/author of the chorale text is Lazarus Spengler who lived from 1479-1534. Spengler was born in Nürnberg and became a lawyer, took on a postion as city clerk and eventually became a city councilor in Nürnberg. He was a friend of Martin Luther’s and a staunch supporter of the Reformation. The earliest date for the appearance of Spengler’s text is 1524

Text Category:
The modern German hymnal has placed this chorale text under “Christian Belief and Christian Life” but both Scheidt and Pachelbel give the category “Von der Rechtfertigung” [“On the Subject of Vindication/Justification”] This is very likely the category to which Bach understood this chorale text to belong.

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:
Text: Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt \| EKG: 243 Author: Lazarus Spengler (1524)
Ver	Work	Mvt.	Year	Br	RE	KE	Di	BC	Score		Music Examples
8	BWV 18	Mvt. 5	1713/15	100 126	73	100	-	F52:1 A44:5	PDF \| PDFa		Mvt. 5 (MG) \| Mvt. 5 a (MG) [midi] \| Mvt. 5 (Leusink) [ram]
7	BWV 109	Mvt. 6	1723	-	-	-	-	A151:6	*		Mvt. 6 (Leusink) [ram]
BWV 109/6: A separate sample of the corno da caccia part that plays colla parte is presented separately because it differs from the cantus firmus in the soprano part.




Untexted:
Ver	Work	Mvt.	Year	Br	RE	KE	Di	BC	Score	Music Examples
-	BWV 637	-		-	-	-	-	K66	-
-	BWV 705	-		-	-	-	-	K133	-
-	BWV 1101	-	b 1710	-	-	-	-	K174	-
BWV 705 not accepted by NBA, BWV Verzeichnis still lists it as ‘of doubtful authenticity.’



Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:
Johann Dilliger (1593-1647): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, Setting for 8 voices (Magdeburg, 1615?)
Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, hymn for 4 voices (& continuo) (Cantional...) Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, cantata for 2 voices & continuo (Opella nova, Part 1, No. 26) (1618)
Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt a 4-pt. setting from “Tabulatur=Buch” (Görlitz, 1650).

Johann Heinrich Scheidemann (1595-1663): Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt, Chorale for organ
Christoph Bernhard (1627/1628-1692): Missa Durch Adams Fall a mass based on the chorale
Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707): Chorale prelude for organ in the Dorian mode, Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, BuxWV 183
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (I), Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 28 Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (II), Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 29 Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (III), Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 30

Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, Chorale Prelude for Organ
Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1679-1735): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt Chorale Prelude for Organ (Leipzig, 1733). [This prelude used only the incipit].
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767): Missa sopra Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, for 4 voices and bc, TWV 9:4 Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (I), sacred cantata for chorus, oboe, strings & continuo, TWV 1:395 (1726) Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (II), sacred cantata for voice, chorus, strings & continuo, TWV 1:396
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784): Durch Adams Fall, Chorale Prelude for Organ, F. 38/1/4 (BR A96)
Gottfried August Homilius (1714-1785): Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt for organ & oboe
Günter Raphael (1903-1960): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, Chorale Prelude for Organ, op. 27, no. 2.

Arrangements/Transcriptions of Bach's use of the Chorale Melody:
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924): Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verdebt, transcription for piano (after J.S. Bach, BWV 637; Ten Chorale Preludes No. 7), KiV B27/7
See list of Piano Transcriptions of BWV 615 & BWV 707 by various composers/arrangers at: Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works - Index by BWV Number Part 4: Chorale Preludes for Organ

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)
Chorales BWV 250-438 Recordings \| General Discussions: Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \| Chorales in Bach's Vocal Works: Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \| Part 4 \| Part 5 \| Part 6 \| Hidden Chorale Melody Allusions \| Passion Chorale Individual Recordings: Hilliard - Morimur \| Chorales - Matt \| Chorales - Rilling \| Preludi ai Corali - Quartetto Italiani di Viola Da Gamba References: Chorales BWV 250-300 \| Chorales BWV 301-350 \| Chorales BWV 351-400 \| Chorales BWV 401-438 Texts & English Translations of Chorales: Sorted by Title Chorale Melodies: Sorted by Title \| 371 4-Part Chorales sorted by Breitkopf Number \| 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 [Schweitzer] \| The Origin of the Melodies of the Chorales [Schweitzer] \| The Chorale in the Church Service [Schweitzer] \| Choral / Chorale [Terry] \| The History of the Breitkopf Collection of J. S. Bach’s Four-Part Chorales [Braatz] \| Chorale Melody Allusions in Bach's Vocal Works [Braatz] Hymnals used by Bach \| Abbreviations used for the Chorales \| Links to other Sites about the Chorales

Chorale Melodies: Sorted by Title | 371 4-Part Chorales sorted by Breitkopf Number | Explanation

Back to the Top

Last update: ýMarch 11, 2008 ý09:07:21