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Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn |
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Melody & Text | Use of the CM by Bach | Use of the CM by other composers |
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Melody & Text: Zahn: 2496c | EKG: 245 (only 10 verses of the original) |
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Melody: |
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This melody is a contrafact of the secular song Es ist nicht lang, daß es geschah (“It’s not long ago that this happened”) also known or identified as the Lindenschmied-Weise (either ‘Mr. Lindenschmied’s melody’ or ‘the tune sung by the blacksmith who has his shop next to the linden or lime tree’). This melody can be traced back to south Germany around 1490. The melody later appears in 1530 with the text by Georg Grünwald as a broadside entitled Ain schöns newes Christlichs Lyed (“A nice, new Christian song”) published within the circle of the Mennonites or Baptists.
[In the EKG this melody is also used for chorale text by Jakob Fabricius (1593-1654) Verzage nicht, du Häuflein klein EKG 211 and by Jochen Klepper (1903-1942) Der du die Zeit in Händen hast EKG 45.] |
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Text: |
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The author of this text is Georg Grünwald, a shoemaker from Kitzbühl in the Tyrol (Austria) who, in 1530, was burned at the stake in Kufstein (Tyrol) for has beliefs as an Anabaptist.
Originally this chorale text had at least 16 verses of which only 10 remain in the current EKG hymnal. |
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Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach: |
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Text 1: Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn | EKG: 245
Author: Georg Grünwald (1530) |
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Ver |
Work |
Mvt. |
Year |
Br |
RE |
KE |
Di |
BC |
Score |
Music Examples |
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16 |
BWV 86 |
Mvt. 3 |
1724 |
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- |
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A73:3 |
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Mvt. 3 (Leusink) [ram] |
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Text 2: Gott Vater, sende deinen Geist | EKG:
Author: Paul Gerhardt (1653) |
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Ver |
Work |
Mvt. |
Year |
Br |
RE |
KE |
Di |
BC |
Score |
Music Examples |
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2 |
BWV 74 |
Mvt. 8 |
1725 |
369 |
223 |
370 |
112 |
A83:8 |
PDF |
Mvt. 8 (MG) [midi] | Mvt. 8 (Leusink) [ram] |
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10 |
BWV 108 |
Mvt. 6 |
1725 |
46 |
224 |
45 |
98 |
F128
A72:6 |
PDF |
Mvt. 6 (MG) [midi] | Mvt. 6 (Leusink) [ram] |
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Text 3 : Verzage nicht, o Häuflein klein NEW
Author: Jakob Fabricius (attributed to Michael Altenburg, 1632); may have originated as a marching song of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. |
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Chorale - Duet for Soprano & Tenor (Mvt. 4) from Cantata BWV 42 (1725) (verse 1) |
William L. Hoffman wrote (September 15, 2010):
I quote the relevant passage in Whittaker I:298. "iv is headed Chorale. Duetto., but there is no hymn-melody. The words are stanza 1 of J.M. Altenburg's(?) 'Verzage nicht, o Hauflein klein' (1632), and Terry points out that this is a solitary instance of separation of hymn-stanza from its tune, and thinks that 'the melody' (the anonymous 'Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn' (1530) 'seems to be implied and its closing cadence is introduced.'" |
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Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers: |
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Arnold von Bruck (1500 (?) - 1554):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, 4-pt. vocal setting contained in Georg Rhau’s Newe deudsche Geistliche Gesenge (1544) |
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Orlando di Lasso (c1532-1594):
Kommt her zu mir, lied for 5 voices, S. xviii/73 (1572) |
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Melchior Vulpius (c1560-1615):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, 4-pt vocal setting (1609) |
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Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, 4-pt. setting |
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Michael Praetorius (1571-1621):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, 4-pt. vocal setting in Musae Sioniae VII |
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Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, hymn for SATB [bc] (1627) |
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Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, 4-pt. setting from the Görlitz Tabulaturbuch (1650) |
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Dietrich Buxtehude (c1637-1707):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, Chorale Prelude for Organ in G minor, BuxWV 201 |
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Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, Chorale Prelude for Organ |
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Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706):
Sacred Concerto Kommt her zu mir (Text by J.M. Dilher and Johann Franck), 4 vocal parts, 2 violins, 2 ?cornetts, bc, T. 377
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, Chorale Prelude for Organ, T. 52 |
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Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767):
Cantata Kommt her zu mir (Neumeister), for 4 vocal parts, 2 oboes, strings, bc, TWV 1:1007 (1720)
Cantata Kommt her zu mir (Neumeister), for 4 vocal parts, 2 oboes, strings, bc, TWV 1:1008 (1720) |
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Johann Balthasar König (1691-1758):
Cantata Kommt her zu mir |
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Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, Chorale Prelude for Organ with Oboe
Fantasia on Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, for organ & horn obbligato |
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Georg Friedrich Kauffmann (1679-1735):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, Chorale Prelude for Organ (Leipzig, 1733) |
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Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843-1900):
Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn, motet for chorus, Op. 102/1 |
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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 (April 2006 -
August 2022) |
