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"Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr" (From my heart I hold you dear, o Lord), was written by Martin Schalling written in Amberg in 1569 and first printed in 1571. The hymn has 3 stanzas, and is often used for funerals, especially the 3rd and last stanza, Ach, Herr, laß dein' lieb' Engelein/ Am letzten End' die Seele mein/ In Abrahams Schoß tragen! (Ah Lord, let your dear angels/ at my last end carry my soul/ to Abraham's bosom). It is based on Psalms 18 (The Lord rewarded me) and 73 (Here this, all ye peoples).
The first theme of the hymn is the love to God and one's neighbour, following the Great Commandment. M. Schalling included thoughts from Psalms 18:3. The hymn is regarded as a Sterbelied (song for the dying), as Schalling expressed stations of the transition after death in the last stanza, according to Lutheran doctrine as understood in the 17th century. The soul is seen as carried by angels to Abrahams schos (Abraham's bosom), according to Luke 16:22, the body transforming in the grave, rising on the last day ("am Jüngsten Tage") to be reunited with the soul. The final line is "Ich will dich preisen ewiglich!" (I want to praise you for ever!). Besides "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir," it was the "other hymn attested for this festival in the hymn schedules" of Dresden and Leipzig, as well as Weißenfels", says Stiller (Ibid.). It is found in the NLGB No. 324, "Death and Dying." The full text and Francis Browne's English translation is at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale006-Eng3.htm
The anonymous melody (Zahn 8326) was first found in the Orgeltabulatur-Buch (Straßburg, 1577). The source of the melody, is found in Thomas Braatz (December 11, 2002): BWV 19 - Commentary: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Guide/BWV19-Guide.htm: The "music/melody evolved as follows: in its 1st incarnation the melody by Mathias Gastritz appeared in Kurtze vnnd sonderliche Newe Symbola etlicher Fürsten (Nürnberg/Amberg, 1571), where it is set to the Hymn whose name it bears; it was later modified by Bernhard Schmid in Zwey Bücher einer Neuen Künstlichen Tabulatur auf Orgel und Instrument (Straßburg, 1577) - [this is the melody that remained associated with the chorale text, "Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr," a chorale that still appears in German Lutheran hymnals up to the present day"; "Lord, Thee I love with all my heart," Lutheran Book of Worship, No 325, "Christian Hope."
"Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr" appears in three Picander texts for J.S. Bach cantatas, two for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, BWV 149/7(S.3) in the Picander 1728 cycle text, P-62, and Cantata BWV 19/5 from Picander poetry (tenor aria, trumpet melody only, as well as the Whit Monday Cantata BWV 174/5 (S.1), Picander cycle text, P-39, and also in the St. John Passion, BWV 245/40 (S.3) plain chorale BWV 340. J.S. Bach’s treatment of the tune is not uniform in the four places in which he employs it. There does not appear to be earlier authority for the F sharp which he substitutes for F natural at the fifth and thirteenth notes (supra) in BWV 149/7, nor does he repeat it elsewhere.
"Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr" is part of the current German Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG) under number 397.
Translations of the Hymn into English are noted in the Dictionary of Hymnology, pp. 1004, 1648.
Source: Motets & Chorales for St. Michael and All Angels (William L. Hoffman, February 10, 2013) with additions by Aryeh Oron (October 2018) |
