Chorale Melody - Herr Jesu Christ, du hochstes Gut

Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut
Melody & Text \| Use of the CM by Bach \| Use of the CM by other composers

Melody & Text: Zahn: 4486 \| EKG: 167
Melody:
The melody has been traced back to hymnals from Görlitz, 1587 and Dresden, 1593. The Görlitz hymnal has the title: Harmonia hymnorum. No further information about the composer or the possibility of a contrafact being involved is available. There is no indication that Bartholomäus Ringwaldt was the composer, but this possibility can not be entirely excluded. The NBA editors never refer to Ringwaldt as the composer, they simply state that the “chorale is by Ringwaldt” without differentiating between the poet and composer in this instance.
Some older sources of the melody:
A source with which Bach may have been acquainted is the Gotha hymnal from the year 1715:

Samuel Scheidt has two 4-pt. settings in his “Tabulatur=Buch” (Görlitz, 1650):

Here is the melody as it appears during Johann Pachelbel’s lifetime, albeit with a different text which will be discussed below:


Text 1: Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut \| EKG: 167
The author of Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut is Bartholomäus Ringwaldt/Ringwald (1530-1599) who was born in Frankfurt on the Oder and who, in his final position, was a pastor in Langenfeld in the province of Neumark. He was known for his intrepid sermons on penance and in support of high morals. There are some important chorale texts by him still in use today which include, in addition to the presently mentioned one, “Es ist gewißlich an der Zeit” and “Lobet den Herrn, und dankt ihm seine Gaben.”

Text 2: Herr Jesu Christ, ich weiß gar wohl
This is another chorale text by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt which no longer exists in the EKG. It dates from 1582 and it was still available in Bach’s time. Here is Samuel Scheidt's 4-pt. setting with the alternate text (1650):

Here is a 17^th-century source with the alternate text:.

Bach (or more correctly speaking, Bach’s librettist) uses this text which Bach set to music in BWV 166/3. This is Bach’s only instance of using this chorale text.

Text 3: Herr Jesu Christ, ich schrei zu dir
The text author is unknown, but the text can be traced back to Freiberg (1620). Bach only uses this text in BWV 48/7.

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:
Text 1: Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut \| EKG: 167 Author: Bartholomäus Ringwaldt
Ver	Work	Mvt.	Year	Br	RE	KE	Di	BC	Score		Music Examples
1	BWV 113	Mvt. 1	1724	-	-	-	-	A122:1			Mvt. 1 (Leusink) [ram]
2	BWV 113	Mvt. 2	1724	-	-	-	-	A122:2			Mvt. 2 (Leusink) [ram]
4	BWV 113	Mvt. 4	1724	-	-	-	-	A122:4			Mvt. 4 (Leusink) [ram]
8	BWV 113	Mvt. 8	1724	293	142	294	74	A122:8	PDF		Mvt. 8 (MG) [midi] \| Mvt. 8 (Leusink) [ram]
2	BWV 131	Mvt. 2	1707	-	-	-	-	B25:2			Mvt. 2 (Leusink) [ram]
5	BWV 131	Mvt. 4	1707	-	-	-	-	B25:4			Mvt. 4 (Leusink) [ram]
8	BWV 168	Mvt. 6	1725	92	143	92	-	A116:6	PDF		Mvt. 6 (MG) [midi] \| Mvt. 6 (Leusink) [ram]








Text 2: Herr Jesu Christ, ich weiß gar wohl Author: Bartholomäus Ringwaldt
Ver	Work	Mvt.	Year	Br	RE	KE	Di	BC	Score		Music Examples
3	BWV 166	Mvt. 3	1724	-	-	-	-	A71:3			Mvt. 3 (RMM) [midi] \| Mvt. 3 (Leusink) [ram]


Text 3: Herr Jesu Christ, ich schrei zu dir Author: Anon
Ver	Work	Mvt.	Year	Br	RE	KE	Di	BC	Score		Music Examples
12	BWV 48	Mvt. 7	1723	266	144	266	40	A144:7	PDF		Mvt. 7 (CCARH) [midi] \| Mvt. 7 (MG) [midi] \| Mvt. 7 (Leusink) [ram]


Untexted:
Ver	Work	Mvt.	Year	Br	RE	KE	Di	BC	Score	Music Examples
-	BWV 48	Mvt. 1	1723	-	-	-	-	A144:1		Mvt. 1 (Leusink) [ram]
-	BWV 334	-	?	73	141	73	-	F202:1	PDF	Chorale (MG) [midi]
-	BWV 1114	-	b 1710	-	-	-	-	K187




Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:
Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654): 2 different 4-pt. settings from the “Tabulatur=Buch” (Görlitz, 1650). See: Score 4-pt setting from the “Tabulatur-Buch, with an alternate text Herr Jesu Christ, ich weiß gar wohl (Görlitz, 1650). See: Score
Johann Wolfgang Franck (1641-1710): Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut Cantata from the Ansbach period (1672-1679). composed just before murdering another court musician: >>He composed a considerable body of sacred music for the court chapel, and in 1677 was made court chaplain. In January 1679 he fled Ansbach after having murdered another court musician. He found asylum in Hamburg, where his music was to dominate the opera for the next six years.<< George J. Buelow in Grove Music Online [Oxford University Press, 2005, acc. 923/05]
August Kühnel (1645-1700): Choral variations on Herr Jesu Christ, Du höchstes Gut for viola da gamba & continuo
Johann Samuel Welter (1650-1720): Herr Jesu Christ du höchstes Gut Cantata for SATB, 2 violins, 2 violas da gamba, violone, bc.-organo
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706): Herr Jesu Christ, ichweiß gar wohl, Chorale Prelude for Organ on the alternate text for the main melody. See: Score
Christian Andreas Schulze (also known as “Schultze” or “Praetorius” the Latin translation of “Schultze”) (c1660-1699): Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut Cantata for SSATB soloists and ripieni, 2 violins, 2 violas, bassoon and bc
Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1679-1735): Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut Chorale Prelude for Organ from the collection “Harmonische Seelenlust” (Leipzig, 1733)

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767): Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut a lost cantata
Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780): Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut, Chorale Prelude for Organ
Gottfried August Homilius (1714-1785): Herr Jesu Christ, Du Höchstes Gut, Choral Prelude 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, November 2005)

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Last update: ýApril 20, 2006 ý21:25:04