Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben

Last updated
"Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben"
Christian hymn
Vetter portrait (1709).png
Daniel Vetter, the composer
RelatedBach's Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben, BWV 8
Writtenc. 1690
Textby Caspar Neumann
LanguageGerman
Melodyby Daniel Vetter
Published1713 (1713)

"Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben" [lower-alpha 1] ("Dearest God, when will I die") [8] [lower-alpha 2] is a Lutheran hymn which Caspar Neumann, an evangelical theologian from Breslau, wrote around 1690. [16] [17] [18] The topic of the hymn, which has five stanzas of eight lines, is a reflection on death. An elaborate analysis of the hymn's content was published in 1749. A few text variants of the hymn originated in the 18th century. Neumann's text is usually sung to the hymn tune of "Freu dich sehr o meine Seele".

Contents

Daniel Vetter, a native of Breslau, set the hymn in the first half of the 1690s, and published this setting in a version for SATB singers in 1713. This setting was picked up by Johann Sebastian Bach, who based some of his compositions on it. His chorale cantata based on Neumann's hymn, Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben, BWV 8, was first performed in Leipzig in 1724, Vetter's hymn tune, Zahn No.  6634, appearing in its outer movements.

The closing chorale of BWV  8 is a reworked version of Vetter's four-part setting. The appreciation of the similarity (or: difference) between this cantata movement, BWV 8/6, and Vetter's original ranges from "somewhat altered" [19] to "with radical alterations", [20] the 1998 edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis listing the 1724 version as a composition by Vetter. Another setting of Neumann's hymn was published in 1747.

Text

St Mary Magdalene Church in Breslau (19th-century drawing) POPPEL(1852) p2.621 BRESLAU, ST. MARIA-MAGDALENEN-KIRCHE.jpg
St Mary Magdalene Church in Breslau (19th-century drawing)

Neumann was born in Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland, then in German Silesia) in 1648. [18] [21] From 1667 to 1670 he studied in Jena. [22] Less than a year after having been assigned court preacher in Altenburg in 1678, he returned to his native town, where he became pastor at the St Mary Magdalene Church in 1689. [23] He wrote "Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben" around 1690. [16] [17] It is a Lutheran hymn in five stanzas of eight lines. [1] Its hymn metre is 8.7.8.7.7.7.8.8. [24] The topic of the hymn text is a reflection on death. [25] Gabriel Wimmer's extensive commentary on the hymn was published in 1749. [26] [27]

Content

In what follows, the German text of Neumann's hymn is according to Wimmer's publication, [28] and the English translation of the hymn, where provided, is according to Charles Sanford Terry's 1917 publication on hymns as included in Bach's cantatas and motets: these verse translations are John Troutbeck's as published by Novello. [10] [29] [30] The explanatory notes, comparing the hymn text to bible passages, are a translation of Wimmer's, based on KJV for bible quotes. [31]

First stanza
  1. Ecclesiastes9:5: "the living know that they shall die"; Ecclesiastes9:12: "man also knoweth not his time"; Job14:5
  2. Psalms144:4: "his days are as a shadow that passeth away"; Job7:6
  3. Genesis5:3: "Adam ... begat a son in his own likeness"
  4. Wisdom of Solomon7:1: "I myself also am a mortal man, like to all"; Acts14:13
  5. 1 Corinthians15:22: "For as in Adam all die, (etc)"
  6. 1 Peter5:10: "ye have suffered a while"; 1 Peter1:6
  7. Wisdom of Sirach40:1–2: "a heavy yoke is ... / ... the day of death"; 2 Samuel14:14; Job30:23
Caspar Neumann Portret van Kaspar Neumann, RP-P-1906-3530.jpg
Caspar Neumann
Second stanza
  1. Acts25:11: "I refuse not to die"; Acts20:24; Genesis46:30; 1 Kings19:4
  2. Romans8:10: "the body is dead because of sin"; Job17:14
  3. Wisdom of Sirach38:22: "yesterday for me, and to day for thee"; Joshua23:14; 2 Samuel14:14
  4. John11:11: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth"; Matthew2:20
Third stanza
  1. Jonah2:4: "Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight"
  2. Wisdom of Sirach7:36: "remember the end, and (etc)"; Wisdom of Sirach14:12
  3. Genesis47:29f: "bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: But I will lie with my fathers"
  4. Luke12:20: "this night thy soul shall be required of thee"; Isaiah38:15
  5. Luke12:20: "whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"; Psalms39:7; Lamentations5:2
  6. Acts11:19: "they ... were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose"; Matthew26:31
Fourth stanza
  1. Philippians4:5–6: "The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing"; 1 Peter5:7
  2. 2 Corinthians5:8: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord"; Luke23:43; Philippians1:23; 1 Thessalonians4:17
  3. Job19:25: "I know that my redeemer (etc)"; 1 Corinthians15:44
  4. Philippians3:13: "forgetting those things which are behind"
  5. Joshua13:33: "the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance"
  6. 1 Timothy6:16: "Who only hath immortality"
Fifth stanza
  1. Romans14:9: "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living"; Psalms8:2; Psalms103:19
  2. 1 Corinthians1:8: "Who shall ... confirm you unto the end"; 1 Peter1:9
  3. Acts7:59–60: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ... And when he had said this (etc)"; Luke2:29; 2 Maccabees6:27f; Hebrews12:3
  4. Tobit4:4: "bury her by me"; Tobit14:12; Genesis49:29
  5. Psalms71:1: "In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion"; Psalms31:1

Another linking of phrases from the hymn, and paraphrases thereof, to biblical passages can be found in Melvin P. Unger's 1996 book with interlinear translations of Bach's cantata texts. [32]

Adaptations

Copies of the 1720 and 1721 prints of Franz Anton von Sporck's Verschiedene Buß-Gedancken Einer Reumüthigen Seele, Uber Die Sterblichkeit deß Menschens are extant. The publication contains "O Gott! mein Zeit laufft immer hin", which is an adaptation of Neumann's hymn. Like the original, it has five stanzas of eight lines. [33]

The text of the four middle movements of BWV 8 is an expanded paraphrase of stanzas two to four of Neumann's hymn. The second and third stanza of the hymn form the basis of the second and third movement of the cantata, which are an aria followed by a recitative. The text of the next two movements of the cantata, again an aria followed by a recitative, draws from, and expands upon, the hymn's fourth stanza. [34] [35] [36]

In 1789, Benjamin Friedrich Schmieder  [ wikisource ] published Hymnologie, oder, Ueber Tugenden und Fehler der verschiedenen Arten geistlicher Lieder, in which he presented an improved version of Neumann's hymn. Schmieder clarifies the improvements he proposes in accompanying prose. The incipit of this version reads: "Ach wie bald, Herr, kan ich sterben!" (lit.'Ah how soon, Lord, can I die!'). [37]

Melodies and settings

Notes

  1. Spelling variants:
    • Lieber (lit.'Dear') instead of Liebster. [1]
    • No comma after Gott; [2] or, an exclamation mark instead of that comma. [3] [4]
    • wenn instead of wann. [5] [6]
    • werd' or wird instead of werd. [1] [7]
    • Title ending on a question mark. [1]
    Variants also include differences in capitalisation, e.g. GOTT instead of Gott. [3]
  2. Other translations include:
    • "Ah, Lord God, when shall I see Thee?" [9]
    • "Dearest God, when wilt Thou call me?" [10]
    • "Gracious God, when wilt Thou call me?" [10]
    • "Dearest God, when shall I die?" [11] [12]
    • "Dearest God, when will my death be?" [13]
    • "O my God, when shall I perish?" [14] [15]
  3. For the "Abermal ein Jahr verflossen" name variant, see, e.g., Vollständiges Hessen-Hanauisches Choralbuch (1754), where the Register indicates No. 578, that is the "Freu dich sehr o meine Seele" melody, as tune for "Abermal ein Jahr verflossen". [44]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid</i>, BWV 3 Chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the Second Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it on 14 January 1725. It is based on the hymn published by Martin Moller in 1587.

<i>Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben</i>, BWV 8 Church cantata by J.S. Bach

Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?, BWV 8, is a church cantata for the 16th Sunday after Trinity by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is a chorale cantata, part of Bach's second cantata cycle. Bach performed it for the first time on 24 September 1724 in St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig. The cantata is scored for SATB singers, four wind instruments, strings and continuo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caspar Neumann</span> German professor and clergyman

Caspar Neumann was a German professor and clergyman from Breslau with a special scientific interest in mortality rates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid</span>

"Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" is a hymn in German in 18 stanzas attributed to Martin Moller (1587). It is often catalogued as a paraphrase of the Latin "Jesu dulcis memoria", a medieval hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, but only a few lines refer directly to this song. Hymn tunes were composed for the hymn, and it is also often sung to a tune composed for "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht". The anonymous hymn tune of "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" first appeared in Wolflein Lochamer's Lochamer-Liederbuch, printed in Nürnberg around 1455. In Leipzig in the 1720s, Johann Sebastian Bach composed settings of Lochamer's hymn based on four of his church cantatas and a sacred motet.

<i>Komm, du süße Todesstunde</i>, BWV 161 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Komm, du süße Todesstunde, BWV 161, in Weimar for the 16th Sunday after Trinity, probably first performed on 27 September 1716.

There are 52 chorale cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach surviving in at least one complete version. Around 40 of these were composed during his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, which started after Trinity Sunday 4 June 1724, and form the backbone of his chorale cantata cycle. The eldest known cantata by Bach, an early version of Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, presumably written in 1707, was a chorale cantata. The last chorale cantata he wrote in his second year in Leipzig was Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, first performed on Palm Sunday, 25 March 1725. In the ten years after that he wrote at least a dozen further chorale cantatas and other cantatas that were added to his chorale cantata cycle.

<i>Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott</i>, BWV 139

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott, BWV 139, in Leipzig for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 12 November 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn by Johann Christoph Rube (1692).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gottfried Vopelius</span> German lutheran academic and hymn-writer (1645–1715)

Gottfried Vopelius, was a German Lutheran academic and hymn-writer, mainly active in Leipzig. He was born in Herwigsdorf, now a district of Rosenbach, Oberlausitz, and died in Leipzig at the age of 70.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan</span> 17th-century German Christian hymn by Samuel Rodigast

"Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" is a Lutheran hymn written by the pietist German poet and schoolmaster Samuel Rodigast in 1675. The melody has been attributed to the cantor Severus Gastorius. An earlier hymn with the same title was written in the first half of the seventeenth century by the theologian Michael Altenburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn</span>

"Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn" is a Christian hymn with a text by Paul Gerhardt in twelve stanzas is sung to the melody of "Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit". The theme of the hymn is faith in God and the submission to his will.

"Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut" is the beginning of two Lutheran hymns. One is a penitential hymn, written in 1588 by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt, who possibly also created the melody. The other is an anonymous communion hymn, probably based on the former, which appeared first in 1713. Johann Sebastian Bach's used the penitential hymn several times, including the chorale cantata Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut, BWV 113, based on the hymn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit</span> 16th century German Lutheran hymn

"Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit" is a Lutheran hymn in German. The text from c. 1550 is attributed to Albert, Duke of Prussia. The melody, Zahn No. 7568, goes back to a tune by Claudin de Sermisy, written in 1529 for a secular French song. The hymn has belonged to core Lutheran hymnody without interruption and is part of the Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch as EG 364.

"Auf meinen lieben Gott" is a Lutheran hymn from the 17th century. Several hymns are sung to the same hymn tune, including "Wo soll ich fliehen hin", and it was set in compositions. The hymn was translated into English as "In God, My Faithful God". It is part of modern hymnals and songbooks.

The Dietel manuscript, D-LEb Peters Ms. R 18, also known as the Dietel Collection and, in German, Choralsammlung Dietel, is the oldest extant manuscript with a large collection of four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach. It contains 149 of Bach's chorale harmonisations and originated around 1735. The music in the manuscript was copied by Johann Ludwig Dietel, one of Bach's pupils from the Thomasschule.

<i>Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend</i>, BWV 248 II Second cantata of Johann Sebastian Bachs Christmas Oratorio

Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, BWV 248II, is a 1734 Christmas cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach as the second part of his Christmas Oratorio. Bach was then Thomaskantor, responsible for music at four churches in Leipzig, a position he had assumed in 1723.

"Nun liebe Seel, nun ist es Zeit", alternatively written "Nun, liebe Seel, nun ist es Zeit", is a Lutheran hymn for Epiphany, in five stanzas of six lines each, by Georg Weissel. It was first printed in 1642, set as a motet by Johannes Eccard. A version with an additional stanza is attributed to Johann Christoph Arnschwanger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18th-century prints of Bach's four-part chorales</span>

In the period following Johann Sebastian Bach's death in 1750, apart from the publication of The Art of Fugue in the early 1750s, the only further publications prior to the 1790s were the settings of Bach's four-part chorales. In 1758 Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg was the first to start preparing a published edition of Bach's four-part chorales, but in 1763 was prevented by royal duties. C. P. E. Bach, who owned the original manuscripts, then set about the same task, producing two volumes in 1765 and 1769. Dissatisfied with his publisher Friedrich Wilhelm Birnstiel, he surrendered the manuscript rights in 1771 to Johann Kirnberger and his patron Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia. From 1777 onwards, Kirnberger unsuccessfully made requests to Birnstiel and a new publisher, Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf, to publish the chorales. Following Kirnberger's death in 1783, C.P.E. Bach approached Breitkopf, who published them in four volumes between 1784 and 1787.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Vetter</span> German organist and composer (1657–1721)

Daniel Vetter was an organist and composer of the German Baroque era.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lieber Gott, wann werd ich sterben? at hymnary.org .
  2. 1 2 Vetter 1713, introduction.
  3. 1 2 3 Allgemeines und vollständiges Evangelisches Gesangbuch für die Königl. Preuß. Schles. Lande (1751), No. 1046, p. 630.
  4. 1 2 Pommerscher Sing- Bet- Lob- und Danck-Altar, oder vollständiges Gesang-Buch (1776), No. 763, p. 522
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben BWV 8/6 at Bach Digital.
  6. Wimmer 1749, p.  622.
  7. 1 2 Seiffert, Max (1895), "Vetter, Daniel", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 39, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 532–535
  8. Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 8 – Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?". Emmanuel Music . Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  9. Spitta 1899, II, p.  431.
  10. 1 2 3 Kenney 1960.
  11. Unger 1996, p.  26.
  12. Dürr & Jones 2006, p.  550.
  13. Ambrose 2020.
  14. Schulze 2017.
  15. Kantate (ID: 4333): Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben at SLUB Dresden website.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben BWV deest (NBA Serie III:2) at Bach Digital.
  17. 1 2 Koch 1868, pp.  463, 595.
  18. 1 2 Neumann, Caspar at Bach Digital.
  19. 1 2 3 Spitta 1899, II, p.  432.
  20. 1 2 Dürr & Jones 2006, p.  553.
  21. Koch 1868, p.  456.
  22. Koch 1868, p.  457.
  23. Koch 1868, pp.  457458.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Zahn 1891, p.  130.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Spitta 1899, II, pp.  431433.
  26. Koch 1868, p.  463.
  27. Wimmer 1749.
  28. Wimmer 1749, pp.  624625.
  29. Terry 1917, pp.  497, 537538.
  30. Bach 1880.
  31. Wimmer 1749, pp.  624–626.
  32. Unger 1996, pp.  26–29.
  33. Verschiedene Buß-Gedancken Einer Reumüthigen Seele, Uber Die Sterblichkeit deß Menschens (1720), "Ein anders"; Verschiedene Buß-Gedancken Einer Reumüthigen Seele, Uber Die Sterblichkeit deß Menschens (1721), "Ein anders".
  34. 1 2 3 Schulze 2017, p. 5.
  35. 1 2 3 Dürr & Jones 2006, p.  552.
  36. Spitta 1899, II, pp.  431432.
  37. Schmieder 1789.
  38. Neumann 1716.
  39. Neumann 1716, "Sterbe-Lied" ('Song for the dying'), pp. 386–387.
  40. Zahn 1891, p.  105.
  41. 1 2 3 Schmieder 1789, p.  306.
  42. 1 2 Zahn 1891, p.  102.
  43. GENEVAN 42 and Abermal ein jahr verflossen at hymnary.org website.
  44. Müller 1754.
  45. Dürr & Kobayashi 1998, p. 481.
  46. Instances of "Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben" at hymnary.org website.
  47. Das Privilegirte Ordentliche und Vermehrte Dreßdnische Gesang-Buch (1730), No. 623, p. 389; Das Privilegirte Ordentliche und Vermehrte Dreßdnische Gesang-Buch (1759), No. 623, p. 389; Das Privilegirte Ordentliche und Vermehrte Dreßdnische Gesang-Buch (1768), No. 623, p. 389.
  48. Sammlung von geist- und trostreichen Sterb- und Begräbniß-Liedern (1747), No. 62, pp. 79–80.
  49. Neues vollständiges Gesang-Buch, für die Königlich-Preußische, auch Churfürstlich-Brandenburgische und andere Lande (1748), No. 623, p. 403; Neues vollständiges Gesang-Buch, für die Königlich-Preußische, auch Churfürstlich-Brandenburgische und andere Lande (1757), No. 623, p. 403
  50. Neu-eingerichtetes Kirchen- und Haus- Gesang-Buch (1749), No. 1007, p. 698.
  51. Seelen erquickendes Harpffen-Spiel (1764), No. 571, pp. 882–883.
  52. Liedersammlung zum Gebrauch für Kranke und Sterbende (1789), No. 58, pp. 90–91.
  53. Ein Unpartheyisches Gesang-Buch (1804), No. 366, pp. 390–391, Ein Unpartheyisches Gesang-Buch (1808), No. 366, pp. 390–391 and Ein Unpartheyisches Gesang-Buch (1829), No. 366, pp. 390–391 at hymnary.org website.
  54. Die Kleine Geistliche Harfe der Kinder Zions (1811), No. 299, p. 272 and Die Kleine Geistliche Harfe der Kinder Zions (1834), No. 299, p. 272 at hymnary.org website.
  55. Erbauliche Lieder-Sammlung (1826), No. 581, p. 369 at hymnary.org website.
  56. Die Gemeinschaftliche Liedersammlung (1841), No. 185, pp. 315–317 and Die Gemeinschaftliche Liedersammlung (1849), No. 185, pp. 315–317 at hymnary.org website.
  57. Hamburgisches Gesangbuch (1842), No. 638, pp. 457–458
  58. 1 2 3 4 Vetter 1713, No. 91.
  59. 1 2 3 Winterfeld 1847, p.  487.
  60. Terry 1917, p.  152.
  61. 1 2 3 4 Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben (sacred song) BWV 483 at Bach Digital.
  62. Terry 1917, pp.  151152.
  63. "B-Br Ms II 3905 Mus (Fétis 1985)". Bach Digital . Leipzig: Bach Archive; et al. 2018-09-03.
  64. Yearsley 2019, p.  219.
  65. 1 2 3 4 5 Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben [1st version] BWV 8.1 at Bach Digital.
  66. Dürr & Jones 2006, pp.  2930, 550.
  67. Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?, BWV 8 : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  68. Ebata 2019.
  69. Schemelli 1736, p.  595.
  70. Schemelli 1736, pp.  595596.
  71. 1 2 3 Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben [2nd version] BWV 8.2 at Bach Digital.
  72. Yearsley 2019, pp.  218219.
  73. Yearsley 2019, pp.  219220.
  74. 1 2 Winterfeld 1847, Annex, pp.  140–142.
  75. Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?, BWV 8 : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  76. Songs and Arias, BWV 439–518 : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  77. Clough-Leighter 1935.
  78. Platen 1976, p. 51.
  79. Dürr & Kobayashi 1998, p. 468.
  80. Zahn 1893, pp.  335337.

Sources