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

Melody & Text: Zahn: 4870 | EKG:

Melody:

This melody, which Bach used only once, is listed as being the same as “Meine Hoffnung stehet feste”. This equation is given by the BWV: Zahn 4870 “Meine Hoffung stehet feste” = “Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott.”

Charles Sanford Terry has conjectured that this melody may have derived from Friedrich Funcke’s (?) [sic] Bleiches Antlitz, sei gegrüßet (no date or more detailed information about the source is given.) Although more recent Bach scholars (Alfred Dürr and editors of the NBA KB have not confirmed this attribution, there are interesting possible connections to Bach that can be gleaned from reading Martin Ruhnke’s biography of Funcke as given in the Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2005, acc. 12/18/05. (This is essentially the same material that the author presented in the MGG1.) It seems rather significant that he occupied an important musical position in Lüneburg and that 43 of his original melodies are found published in the Lüneburg Hymnal: Lüneburgisches Gesangbuch (Lüneburg, 1686). The name of the chorale text linked to this melody, as indicated by Terry, would appear to be connected with Passion-tide: “Pale Countenance/face, let me greet you.”

Text:

The single example in Bach’s oeuvre which makes use of this chorale text by Paul Gerhardt (1653) is found in BWV 40.

Alternate Melody: EKG: 296

The EKG which still retains this text for use in its churches today has a completely different melody which will here simply be designated by its number 296.

EKG 296 Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott CM first appeared in Johann Crüger’s Praxis pietatis melica (4^th Edition) Berlin, 1648.

Use of the Chorale Melody by Bach:

Text: Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott | EKG:
Author: Paul Gerhardt (1653)

Ver

Work

Mvt.

Year

Br

RE

KE

Di

BC

Score

Music Examples

2

BWV 40

Mvt. 6

1723

142

305

142

-

F172, A12:8

PDF

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

Use of the Chorale Melody by other composers:

Johann Christoph Schmidt, (i) (1664-1728):
Cantata: Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott, 4-5 voices + instruments
(Bach copied out one of his cantatas)

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767):
Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott (Neumeister), Sacred Cantata for chorus, 2 oboes, strings & continuo, TWV 1:1257 (1722)

Gottfried August Homilius (1714-1785):
Cantata: Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott (1783)

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 (December 2005)