Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod by J.S. Bach
Today we're looking at 'Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod'. The chorale melody, by Melchior Vulpius, was first published in 1609, to a different text. The poem, by Paul Stockmann, was published in 1633. These two were joined together, and (with some evolutions and polishings over the years) reached mature form in the 'Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682. Today's first attachment shows the chorale as it appeared in the 1682 publication (with which Bach was thoroughly familiar), along with a transcription from Zahn's massive collection of Lutheran hymns.
Bach must have loved this Passion chorale, with its expansive, broad-ranging melody and effective textual structure, in which each verse first describes an episode from the Passion story, and then reflects on the episode's meaning in our lives. He set it many times, including in Cantata 159: Sehet, wir gehn hinauf; as a full-blown chorale fantasy in the Palm Sunday Cantata 182: Himmelskönig sei willkommen, which we performed in the spring of 2014;
and in the dramatic aria/chorale Himmel reisse from the 1725 version of the Saint John Passion,
later removed when Bach revised the piece once again.
But it's best known for its other three appearances in the John Passion. Over the course of the piece, it almost climbs into the mind in the way that 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden' does in the Matthew Passion. In its first appearance, in Johannespassion 14, which closes Part One of the piece, Bach provides a moving response to Peter's threefold denial of Jesus; in its second appearance, in Johannespassion 28, he prolongs the tender moment in which Jesus from the cross calls upon Peter and Mary to take care of each other; and then, most amazingly, in Johannespassion 32 he weaves the chorale in with the bass aria 'Mein teurer Heiland', the ineffably joyful piece which directly follows the moment of Jesus' death--the ultimate musical expression of 'Light Out of Darkness'.
I'm attaching the chorale sheet, as noted above; scores for each of the Saint John Passion movements based upon the chorale; and a text-translation sheet. Recordings are available via the links above.
I hope you enjoy listening to and perhaps singing these chorales, and that doing so may help you for a time to 'rest in the grace of the world'.
Today we're looking at 'Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod'. The chorale melody, by Melchior Vulpius, was first published in 1609, to a different text. The poem, by Paul Stockmann, was published in 1633. These two were joined together, and (with some evolutions and polishings over the years) reached mature form in the 'Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682. Today's first attachment shows the chorale as it appeared in the 1682 publication (with which Bach was thoroughly familiar), along with a transcription from Zahn's massive collection of Lutheran hymns.
Bach must have loved this Passion chorale, with its expansive, broad-ranging melody and effective textual structure, in which each verse first describes an episode from the Passion story, and then reflects on the episode's meaning in our lives. He set it many times, including in Cantata 159: Sehet, wir gehn hinauf; as a full-blown chorale fantasy in the Palm Sunday Cantata 182: Himmelskönig sei willkommen, which we performed in the spring of 2014;
and in the dramatic aria/chorale Himmel reisse from the 1725 version of the Saint John Passion,
later removed when Bach revised the piece once again.
But it's best known for its other three appearances in the John Passion. Over the course of the piece, it almost climbs into the mind in the way that 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden' does in the Matthew Passion. In its first appearance, in Johannespassion 14, which closes Part One of the piece, Bach provides a moving response to Peter's threefold denial of Jesus; in its second appearance, in Johannespassion 28, he prolongs the tender moment in which Jesus from the cross calls upon Peter and Mary to take care of each other; and then, most amazingly, in Johannespassion 32 he weaves the chorale in with the bass aria 'Mein teurer Heiland', the ineffably joyful piece which directly follows the moment of Jesus' death--the ultimate musical expression of 'Light Out of Darkness'.
I'm attaching the chorale sheet, as noted above; scores for each of the Saint John Passion movements based upon the chorale; and a text-translation sheet. Recordings are available via the links above.
I hope you enjoy listening to and perhaps singing these chorales, and that doing so may help you for a time to 'rest in the grace of the world'.