Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht - J.S. Bach
There's a chorale--it's called 'Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht'--which (at least as far as I am concerned) has heretofore flown beneath the radar, even though we once performed movements from Bach's cantata based upon it. That was back in our Spring, 2010 'Jarhgang II' concerts, which included first and last movements from a number of the pieces in Bach's second cantata cycle for Leipzig (1724-25).
I've been trying to decide why this nice tune slipped beneath my consciousness, even after having been part of one of my all-time favorite shows. The only reason I can think of--something that sets it apart--is its near-total avoidance of leaps. Aside from a few decorative passing-tones, and a few instances of 'repositioning' between phrases, the melody is entirely step-wise.
Perhaps it is leaps which make a tune memorable? Think of 'Ein feste Burg', with its bold descending fourth at the opening, and the signal rising fifth at the beginning of the B section. Or what about 'Wachet auf', with its triumphant--even gleeful--exploration of the tonic triad?
Bach at any rate did not have trouble recalling 'Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht'. In fact, he used it many times, and we are going to explore its various iterations in his oeuvre. Scores for each version are attached to this message; links to nice recordings are integrated into the narrative below.
The tune first appeared in “Fest-, Buß- und Danklieder”, a 1658 collection of chorale settings by Andreas Hammerschmidt (c1612-1675). The text is attributed therein to Christian Keymann, a colleague of Hammerschmidt's in Zittau.
You can get to know our melody as it appears in the closing chorale of Bach's Cantata 70, with the excitable title of 'Wachet! Betet! Betet! Wachet!' ('Wake up! Pray! Pray! Wake up!')
In the eponymous chorale Cantata 124 from Jahrgang II, the melody appears twice: First, at the outset, where the sopranos have the tune in long-notes over more active lower voices, all of this laid over what is essentially a concerto for oboe d'amore; and, at the end, in the customary four-part chorale setting.
Our melody appears, again as a closing chorale, in Cantata 154: Mein Liebster Jesus ist verloren
In Cantata 163: Nur jedem daß seine, the chorale melody appears in the violins over a Soprano-Alto duet.
It seems strange to note that in the first two versions of the St Matthew Passion (1727 and 1729), the first half closed not with the famous chorale fantasy on 'O Mensch bewein dein Sünde groß', now so iconic of the piece, but rather with a simple four-part setting of our chorale.
And (finally!) the tune appears in BWV 380, one of the so-called independent 4-part settings, probably from a lost cantata or oratorio.
So there you go. Our unassuming, mostly conjunct chorale seems to have appealed to Bach quite as much as the many more dramatic and leapy ones. Perhaps the answer is bound up in the chorale text: reassuring, confident, straightforward, non-enigmatic. These characteristics can be conveyed and reinforced quite effectively on the wings of a simple song.
There's a chorale--it's called 'Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht'--which (at least as far as I am concerned) has heretofore flown beneath the radar, even though we once performed movements from Bach's cantata based upon it. That was back in our Spring, 2010 'Jarhgang II' concerts, which included first and last movements from a number of the pieces in Bach's second cantata cycle for Leipzig (1724-25).
I've been trying to decide why this nice tune slipped beneath my consciousness, even after having been part of one of my all-time favorite shows. The only reason I can think of--something that sets it apart--is its near-total avoidance of leaps. Aside from a few decorative passing-tones, and a few instances of 'repositioning' between phrases, the melody is entirely step-wise.
Perhaps it is leaps which make a tune memorable? Think of 'Ein feste Burg', with its bold descending fourth at the opening, and the signal rising fifth at the beginning of the B section. Or what about 'Wachet auf', with its triumphant--even gleeful--exploration of the tonic triad?
Bach at any rate did not have trouble recalling 'Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht'. In fact, he used it many times, and we are going to explore its various iterations in his oeuvre. Scores for each version are attached to this message; links to nice recordings are integrated into the narrative below.
The tune first appeared in “Fest-, Buß- und Danklieder”, a 1658 collection of chorale settings by Andreas Hammerschmidt (c1612-1675). The text is attributed therein to Christian Keymann, a colleague of Hammerschmidt's in Zittau.
You can get to know our melody as it appears in the closing chorale of Bach's Cantata 70, with the excitable title of 'Wachet! Betet! Betet! Wachet!' ('Wake up! Pray! Pray! Wake up!')
In the eponymous chorale Cantata 124 from Jahrgang II, the melody appears twice: First, at the outset, where the sopranos have the tune in long-notes over more active lower voices, all of this laid over what is essentially a concerto for oboe d'amore; and, at the end, in the customary four-part chorale setting.
Our melody appears, again as a closing chorale, in Cantata 154: Mein Liebster Jesus ist verloren
In Cantata 163: Nur jedem daß seine, the chorale melody appears in the violins over a Soprano-Alto duet.
It seems strange to note that in the first two versions of the St Matthew Passion (1727 and 1729), the first half closed not with the famous chorale fantasy on 'O Mensch bewein dein Sünde groß', now so iconic of the piece, but rather with a simple four-part setting of our chorale.
And (finally!) the tune appears in BWV 380, one of the so-called independent 4-part settings, probably from a lost cantata or oratorio.
So there you go. Our unassuming, mostly conjunct chorale seems to have appealed to Bach quite as much as the many more dramatic and leapy ones. Perhaps the answer is bound up in the chorale text: reassuring, confident, straightforward, non-enigmatic. These characteristics can be conveyed and reinforced quite effectively on the wings of a simple song.