Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works
O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid

Melody & Text | Use of the CM by Bach | Use of the CM by other composers

Melody & Text:

The hymn "O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid" (O darkest woe, o heart's pain), by Johann Rist, written for special use on Good Friday, is described as a “Klägliches Grab-Lied uber die trawrige Begräbnisse unseres Heylandes Jesu Christi.” This eight 5-line stanzas chorale is found in the NLGB as Passion hymn No. 73 (https://books.google.com/books?id=UmVkAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA156#v=onepage&q&f=false, and in the Schmelli Gesangbuch as No. 314, Good Friday. In Witt the hymn is set to its own melody, published, with the hymn, in 1641. The first stanza author is Friedrich von Spee to the associated melody (Mainz/Würzburg Gesangbuch 1628, Zahn 1915), Stanzas 2-6 by Johann Rist.

The last, eighth verse, "O Jesu du, mein Hilf und Ruh (O Jesus thou, my heart and rest) is the closing chorale in the St. Mark Passion (BWV 247) (No. 44), probably in the plain chorale setting, BWV 404 (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0404.htm). A fragment of the Orgelbüchlein setting (Ob. 29, Passion), BWV Anh. 200, is extant (completed, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcePnlcVZrg).
Another plain chorale setting, possibly by J.S. Bach, BWV deest, closes the "Keiser St. Mark Passion/Pasticcio (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV_deest_O_Traurigkeit.htm, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00018426).
The hymn closes the Carl Heinrich Graun 1730 Passion Oratorio, "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" (A Lambkin goes and bears the guilt), as well as the final stanza in the Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel first Gotha Passion Oratorio 1720, "Die leidende und am Kreuz sterbende Liebe," which J.S. Bach performed on April 23, 1734 in the Thomas Church. This G.H. Stölzel setting also has the aria "Bekennen will ich seinen Namen," BWV 200, originally attributed to J.S. Bach, but is a parody of the aria "Dein Kreuz, o Bräutgam meiner Seelen" (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000756).
Source: Good Friday Chorales (William L. Hoffman, March 31, 2018)

Melody: Zahn 1915
Composer: Anon (Mainz/Würzburg, 1628)

Text: O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid (NLGB 73; KGUG 20)
Author: verse 1: Friedrich Spee (Würzburg, 1628); verses 2-8: Johann Rist (1641)

Hymnal versions Bach may have known:

Melody & text of Das walt’ mein Gott, Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist (NLGB 73) from the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch, pp 156-158

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:

Text: O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid

Chorale O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid!, BWV 404
Ref: RE 57; Br 60; KE 288; Birnstiel 74; AmB 46II p.147 (M3 lower, f minor); Levy–Mendelssohn 17; Fasch p.20; BGA ; BC F165.1; CST 299

Chorale O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid, BWV deest, from Friedrich Nicolaus Brauns's Markus-Passion [previously attributed to Reinhard Keiser]

Untexted:

Chorale Prelude O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid, BWV Anh.200

A fragment from the Orgelbüchlein. J.S. Bach intended to use it, as the sketch of the opening bars in the Autograph shows.

Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:

There is a setting of the third stanza, "O Menschenkind, Nur deine Sünd'" (O sinful man! It was the ban," in George Frideric Handel's Brockes-Passion, HWV 48 (https://carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien/00/0322050/0322050x.pdf). Johannes Brahms set the hymn as a prelude and fugue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txLoPf8pBW0). There is a hymn setting in Franz Liszt's 1879 oratorio, Via crucis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNxdvFamo-g). There is a Heinrich von Herzogenberg motet setting http://www.musicalion.com/en/scores/sheet-music/5783/heinrich-von-herzogenberg/12634/o-traurigkeit-o-herzeleid-chorale-motet.

Sources: Bach Digital; BGA; Zahn; BCML discussions on BCW; Charles Sanford Terry's Bach Chorals books
Photos from Gottfried Vopelius: Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (Vopelius 1682) & Christian Friedrich Witt: Psalmodia Sacra, Oder: Andächtige und schöne Gesänge… (Gotha Hymnal, 1715), were taken from digital copies of the books downloaded from Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München. These copies are Out of copyright - non commercial re-use (Europeana Rights).
Prepared by Aryeh Oron (October 2018)