Christe du Lamm Gottes
I've got a really simple chorale for you this morning; simple in its inherent nature, that is, though not necessarily in its many appearances in music from the 16th-century forward. It's called 'Christe du Lamm Gottes'.
The chorale--part of the so-called 'Deutsche Messe'--first appeared in a 1528 Lutheran liturgical publication by a fellow called Bugenhagen. It's a German version of the 'Agnus Dei', probably translated by Luther and provided by him with a simple repeated melody drawn from earlier sources. The packet for today (available here) begins with the original score and a modern transcription, which Bach Choir used in our 2019 recital with organist Annie Laver. This is followed by a recording of a straightforward setting from a 1601 chorale collection by Joachim Burmeister. This will give you an idea of the clarity and simplicity of the chorale.
But then it gets more complicated! I'm including scores and recordings (some available on YouTube as specified below) for three additional settings of the chorale, to wit (or 'te-whit', one of the utterances of the Sweet Suffolk Owl
in Thomas Vautor's eponymous madrigal):
1) One of Michael Praetorius' several settings, a six-part arrangement from the fifth book of the great 'Musae Sioniae' (1607). This wonderful recording is by the wonderful quartet Stimmwerck, augmented by two instruments in an excellent example of the frequent period practice of mixing voices with instruments to cover the various parts of a piece.
2) The fourth movement of Bach's Cantata 23: 'Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn', one of the composer's two audition cantatas for the position of Thomaskantor at Leipzig which he took up in 1723. The piece is based upon a lost Passion from his Weimar period--the mid-teens of the 18th-century. It made a later appearance as the final movement of the 1725 (2nd) version of the St. John Passion. Each of the three iterations of the litany (in the sopranos, harmonized by the other voices) is provided with its own tempo and rhythmic character. The recording for this piece is available in
this YouTube video.
3) And finally, the first movement of Bach's Lutheran Mass in F Major, a piece probably recycled from a much earlier (possibly 1708) cantata. As Dan Solter pointed out in his September Choir Loft episode, the chorale appears in normal and inverted form, sometimes simultaneously; and it is combined with a different tune, a litany for Advent. What a romp! As Dan asks, 'Why aren't these masses better known?' The recording for this piece is available in this YouTube video.
All this is only scratching the surface of the wonderful repertoire inspired (at least in part) by this simple chorale. I'll mention the opening movement of Bach's Cantata 127: Herr Jesu Christ, in which (again) 'O Lamm Gottes' is only one of the chorales quoted; and also his Orgelbüchlein setting of the chorale.
All this goes to show how a straightforward building-block can provide the foundation for an array of marvelous, complex structures. This is one of my favorite aspects of Lutheran chorale-based music:
We are provided with a sort of map (or set of signposts) which can help guide us through the nooks and crannies and promontories of the actual landscape we traverse.
I've got a really simple chorale for you this morning; simple in its inherent nature, that is, though not necessarily in its many appearances in music from the 16th-century forward. It's called 'Christe du Lamm Gottes'.
The chorale--part of the so-called 'Deutsche Messe'--first appeared in a 1528 Lutheran liturgical publication by a fellow called Bugenhagen. It's a German version of the 'Agnus Dei', probably translated by Luther and provided by him with a simple repeated melody drawn from earlier sources. The packet for today (available here) begins with the original score and a modern transcription, which Bach Choir used in our 2019 recital with organist Annie Laver. This is followed by a recording of a straightforward setting from a 1601 chorale collection by Joachim Burmeister. This will give you an idea of the clarity and simplicity of the chorale.
But then it gets more complicated! I'm including scores and recordings (some available on YouTube as specified below) for three additional settings of the chorale, to wit (or 'te-whit', one of the utterances of the Sweet Suffolk Owl
in Thomas Vautor's eponymous madrigal):
1) One of Michael Praetorius' several settings, a six-part arrangement from the fifth book of the great 'Musae Sioniae' (1607). This wonderful recording is by the wonderful quartet Stimmwerck, augmented by two instruments in an excellent example of the frequent period practice of mixing voices with instruments to cover the various parts of a piece.
2) The fourth movement of Bach's Cantata 23: 'Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn', one of the composer's two audition cantatas for the position of Thomaskantor at Leipzig which he took up in 1723. The piece is based upon a lost Passion from his Weimar period--the mid-teens of the 18th-century. It made a later appearance as the final movement of the 1725 (2nd) version of the St. John Passion. Each of the three iterations of the litany (in the sopranos, harmonized by the other voices) is provided with its own tempo and rhythmic character. The recording for this piece is available in
this YouTube video.
3) And finally, the first movement of Bach's Lutheran Mass in F Major, a piece probably recycled from a much earlier (possibly 1708) cantata. As Dan Solter pointed out in his September Choir Loft episode, the chorale appears in normal and inverted form, sometimes simultaneously; and it is combined with a different tune, a litany for Advent. What a romp! As Dan asks, 'Why aren't these masses better known?' The recording for this piece is available in this YouTube video.
All this is only scratching the surface of the wonderful repertoire inspired (at least in part) by this simple chorale. I'll mention the opening movement of Bach's Cantata 127: Herr Jesu Christ, in which (again) 'O Lamm Gottes' is only one of the chorales quoted; and also his Orgelbüchlein setting of the chorale.
All this goes to show how a straightforward building-block can provide the foundation for an array of marvelous, complex structures. This is one of my favorite aspects of Lutheran chorale-based music:
We are provided with a sort of map (or set of signposts) which can help guide us through the nooks and crannies and promontories of the actual landscape we traverse.