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

Melody & Text: Zahn: 297c | EKG: (None)

Text:

Martin Luther based his 1524 German verse adaptation (8 verses) of his chorale text upon the Latin hymn “A solis ortus cardine” by Caelius Sedulius (died circa 454).

Melody:

Martin Luther simultaneously adapted his melody from one or more of the Latin hymn melodies associated with “A solis ortus cardine” by Caelius Sedulius to make it suitable for his German verse. The chorale text and melody first appeared in print in Erfurt “Enchiridion” in 1524.

An example of what one of the numerous forms of this melody used for singing this Latin hymn may have sounded like (no specific date or source given, but probably of 15^th century origin) appears thus:

Older, but not always clearly identified very early sources (possibly ‘backformations’ applying Luther’s text to the some of the older melodic variants of “A solis ortus cardine”:

Hymnal versions Bach may have known:

Bach may well have been acquainted with the Weißenfels hymnal of 1714:

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:

Text: Christum wir sollen loben schon | EKG:
Author: Martin Luther (1524)

Ver

Work

Mvt.

Year

Br

RE

KE

Di

BC

Score

Music Examples

1

BWV 121

Mvt. 1

1724

-

-

-

-

A13:1

-

Mvt. 1 (Leusink) [ram]

8

BWV 121

Mvt. 6

1724

55

42

56

-

F29
A13:1

PDF

Mvt. 6 (MG) [midi] | Mvt. 6 (Leusink) [ram]

Untexted:

Ver

Work

Mvt.

Year

Br

RE

KE

Di

BC

Score

Music Examples

-

BWV 611

-

1713/15

-

-

-

-

K140

-

-

-

BWV 696

-

1700/17

-

-

-

-

K142

-

-

BWV 611: 1713/15 (Orgelbüchlein No. 13).
BWV 696: 1700/1717 with an alternate Title: Was fürchtst du Feind, Herodes, sehr ^[1] Fughetta.

Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:

Johann Walter (1496-1570):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, 5-pt setting

Lukas Osiander (1534-1604):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, 4-pt. setting (?)

Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, setting for 4 voices (1608); C viii

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, 4-pt. setting

Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, setting for SATB [bc] (1627); A ii/1, 12

Jacob Praetorius (1586-1651):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, Chorale Prelude for Organ

Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654):
Christum wir sollen loben schon (chorale), STB, bc, SSWV 289; S x, 40
Christum wir sollen loben schon, 2 versions for 4 parts

Paul Hallmann (1600-1650):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, 4-pt setting

Daniel Erich (c1649-1712):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, Chorale Prelude for Organ

Georg Böhm (1661-1733):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, Chorale Prelude for Organ

Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748):
Christum wir sollen loben schon, 3 Chorale Preludes for Organ

Footnotes:

[1] This is Martin Luther’s adaptation into German of another part of the same Latin hymn referred to above:

Was fürchtst du, Feind Herodes, sehr,
daß uns geborn kommt Christ der Herr?
Er sucht kein sterblich Königreich,
der zu uns bringt sein Himmelreich.

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 (May 2006)