The righteous perishes are the words with which the 57th chapter of the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

starts. In

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, Isaiah 57:1–2 is associated with the

death of Christ The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

, leading to liturgical use of the text at

Tenebrae Tenebrae (—Latin for "darkness") is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total ...

: the 24th responsory for Holy Week, "Ecce quomodo moritur justus" (See how the just dies), is based on this text. More generally, the text is associated with the death of loved ones and is used at

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s. As such, and in other versions and translations, the Bible excerpt has been set to music.

Text

contain awkward shifts between singular and plural, contrasting a group whom the prophetic tradition approves and others who are strongly condemned. : ''The righteous perishes,'' : ''And no man takes it to heart;'' : ''Merciful men are taken away,'' : ''While no one considers'' : ''That the righteous is taken away from evil.'' : ''He shall enter into peace;'' : ''They shall rest in their beds,'' : ''Each one walking in his uprightness.'' *"The righteous" (

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

, NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV): or "the just man" (NAB); "Good people" (TEV); "The godly" ( NET Bible). *"Evil" or "the face of evil" These verses complain the (apparently violent) death of the righteous that went 'unnoticed and unlamented'.

Responsory "Ecce quomodo moritur justus"

"Ecce quomodo moritur justus", in the pre- Vatican II

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

the 24th of 27

Tenebrae responsories Tenebrae responsories are the responsories sung following the lessons of Tenebrae, the Matins services of the last three days of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Polyphonic settings to replace plainchant have been publis ...

, or the sixth

responsory for Holy Saturday Tenebrae responsories are the responsories sung following the lessons of Tenebrae, the Matins services of the last three days of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Polyphonic settings to replace plainchant have been publis ...

, is based on . In the

service of the

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

this

responsory A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies. Definition The most general definition of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group sin ...

is preceded by a reading taken from Saint Augustine's Commentary on Psalm 64 (63) § 13, interpreting (

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

Ps. 63:9 – "Their own tongues shall ruin them") in the light of (the soldiers at Jesus' grave bribed to lie about the whereabouts of the corpse).Catholic Church 1875, pp. 400–401Guéranger 1870, pp. 533–534 The Versus of the responsory derives from . Settings of the responsory are included in

Tomás Luis de Victoria Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Ren ...

's ''

Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, wh ...

'',Victoria 1585

Carlo Gesualdo Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ( – 8 September 1613) was Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza. As a composer he is known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century ...

's '' Responsoria et alia ad Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae spectantia'', Jan Dismas Zelenka's ''Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta'' (

ZWV This list of compositions by Jan Dismas Zelenka was indexed in accordance with Wolfgang Reiche's thematic catalogue "Jan Dismas Zelenka: Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke (ZWV)", Dresden, 1985. It includes vocal-instrume ...

55) and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's ''Responsorien und Antiphonen'' ( S.30). A 16th century

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

Marc'Antonio Ingegneri Marc'Antonio Ingegneri (also spelled Ingegnieri, Ingignieri, Ingignero, Inzegneri) (c. 1535 or 1536 – 1 July 1592) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance. He was born in Verona and died in Cremona. Even though he spent most of his life w ...

on the Latin text was published around 1967 in an arrangement by Maynard Klein and with "Behold how the righteous perish" as English translation. Palestrina set the responsory for two sopranos, alto and choir. Jacob Handl (

Jacobus Gallus Jacobus Gallus (a.k.a. Jacob(us) Handl, Jacob(us) Händl, Jacob(us) Gallus; sl, Jakob Petelin Kranjski; between 15 April and 31 July 155018 July 1591) was a late-Renaissance composer of presumed Slovene ethnicity.Skei/Pokorn, Grove online Born ...

) published his setting of ''Ecce quomodo moritur justus'' as No. VIII under the heading "De Passione Domini Nostri Iesv Christi" (On the Passion of Jesus Christ our Lord) in his ''Opus Musicum II''.Gallus 1587 The subtitle of the 1587 publication reads "Qvae Ex Sancto Catholicae Ecclesiae Vsv Ita Svnt Dispositae, vt omni tempore inseruire queant" (Which are herewith offered for use in the Catholic Church, in such fashion that they can be adopted throughout the liturgical year). The Versus in Handl's setting is different from the Versus of the 24th Tenebrae responsory. As in 17th century France the Tenebrae services, including the Répons de ténèbres, were held at the

vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...

of the preceding evening, for example Marc-Antoine Charpentier's ''Ecce quomodo'', H 131 is part of his ''Répons de ténèbres du Vendredi saint'' (Tenebrae responsories of Good Friday). In the 18th century

Georg Reutter Georg Reutter (3 November 1656 – 29 August 1738) was an Austrian organist, theorbo player, and composer. Biography Georg Reutter was born in Vienna and became a pupil of Johann Caspar Kerll, whom he later succeeded as organist at St. Stephen ...

produced a SATB setting of the responsory for the ceremonies of the Holy Week in the Wiener Hofburgkapelle (Vienna court chapel).Kainhofer 2009, p. 3 Another SATB setting was composed by

Franz Joseph Aumann Franz Joseph Aumann (also ''Auman'', ''Aumon''; 24 February 1728, Traismauer – 30 March 1797, Sankt Florian) was an Austrian composer. Before his voice broke, he sang in the same Viennese choir as Michael Haydn and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, ...

, to which an accompaniment by three trombones was added by Bruckner in 1879. In the 20th century

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

included "Ecce quomodo moritur justus" as the last in his '' Sept répons des ténèbres'', FP 181, composed 1961.

The Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...

provides a single Tenebrae service on Wednesday evening, the day before

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...

. That service reduces the total number of Tenebrae lessons, each followed by a responsory, to nine. Ecce quomodo moritur is the sixth responsory, and it follows after a reading from Augustine's commentary on Psalm 55 (54).

In Lutheranism

Isaiah 57:1–2 was a theme for funeral sermons of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, among others at a funeral service for

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, E ...

. It also, along with Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 63: 1–3, was used in the context of the Passion story.

Handl's ''Ecce quomodo moritur justus''

Jacob Handl's ''Ecce quomodo moritur justus'' motet was sung at Protestant burials in the 16th century.Jeż 2007, p. 40 In 1682,

Gottfried Vopelius Gottfried Vopelius (28 January 1645 – 3 February 1715), 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. Rober ...

published Handl's motet with a singable German translation ("Siehe, wie dahin stirbt der Gerechte") in the ''Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch'', for performance on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

. Handl's motet was performed on

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

churches in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

.CPDL The music of Handl's setting, by that time perceived as a

funeral motet, is quoted in

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's ''Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline'', HWV 264.Bartlett 2008, p. IV

Der Gerechte kömmt um

'' Der Gerechte kömmt um'', a chorus appearing in a

pasticcio In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, o ...

Passion oratorio In Christian music, a Passion is a setting of the Passion of Christ. Liturgically, most Passions were intended to be performed as part of church services in the Holy Week. Passion settings developed from Medieval intoned readings of the Gospe ...

from the early 1750s, has a German version of Isaiah 57:1–2 as text.Melamed 1995 pp. 148–149 It is an arrangement attributed to

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

of a SSATB setting of ''Tristis est anima mea'', a

attributed to Johann Kuhnau.Bach Digital The arrangement may have been a stand-alone funeral motet.Morton 1992

References

Sources

Bible quotes

: Isaias 57:1–2 and 53:7–8 at

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...

. * World English Bible (WEB): at

Other

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

Exposition on Psalm 64 (63).
at
Bach Digital.Der Gerechte kömmt um BWV deest; BC C 8 (= BC D 10/3)

BnF.Répons de ténèbres du Vendredi saint. 6e répons. H 131 by Marc Antoine Charpentier
*

br>''The Complete Office of Holy Week According to the Roman Missal and Breviary, in Latin and English'', pp. 400–401
Benziger brothers, 1875 *

Church Publishing The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

br>''The Book of Occasional Services • 2003'', pp. 74–83.
New York, 2004. * Clifford Bartlett (editor)
George Frideric Handel: ''Israel in Egypt'' Part I – ''The Ways of Zion do Mourn''
Carus Verlag No. 55.264, 2008. * * * CPDL. ''Ecce quomodo moritur justus'' by Jacob Handl at

Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder). It is a ...

(ChoralWiki) *

(Jacob Handl)
Opus Musicum II
(''Secvndvs Tomvs. Mvsici Operis, Harmoniarvm Qvatvor, Qvinqve, Sex, Octo Et Plvrivm Vocvm : Qvae Ex Sancto Catholicae Ecclesiae Vsv Ita Svnt Dispositae, vt omni tempore inseruire queant. Ad Dei Opt: Max: laudem, et Ecclesiae sanctae decus / Avthore Iacobo Hándl / Pragae, Typis Nigrinianis. Anno M.D.LXXXVII'').

Jiří Nigrin Jiří Nigrin (Černý) z Černého Mostu, since about 1590 titled z Nigropontu (died 1606) was an important printer in Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, larges ...

, Prague, 1587. *

. * Harold Gleason, Warren Becker, Catherine Gleason
''Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance'', p. 174.
Alfred Music Publishing, 1988. *

Prosper Guéranger Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger (; commonly referred to as Dom Guéranger, 4 April 1805, Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France – 30 January 1875, Solesmes, France) was a French priest and Benedictine monk, who served for nearly 40 years as the Abbot of ...

, translated by Laurence Shepherd
''Passiontide and Holy Week'', Volume VI of The Liturgical Year, pp. 533–534.
Dublin, 1870. *

Jacob Handl Jacobus Gallus (a.k.a. Jacob(us) Handl, Jacob(us) Händl, Jacob(us) Gallus; sl, Jakob Petelin Kranjski; between 15 April and 31 July 155018 July 1591) was a late-Renaissance composer of presumed Slovene ethnicity.Skei/Pokorn, Grove online Born ...

(Jacobus Gallus). * Uwe Harten, ''Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch''. , Salzburg, 1996. . * Tomasz Jeż
"The Motets of Jacob Handl in Inter-confessional Silesian Liturgical Practice"
in ''De musica disserenda'' III/2, 2007, pp. 37–48 * Reinhold Kainhofer (editor). ''Ecce quomodo moritur'' by Georg Reutter. Vienna: Edition Kainhofer, 2009. * Maynard Klein
Behold how the righteous perish : motet / Marco Ingegneri ; arr. Maynard Klein ; English text, M.K.
at the website of the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

. * Elsie Anne McKee
''Katharina Schütz Zell. 1. The life and thought of a sixteenth-century reformer'', p. 127.
BRILL, 1999. * * * Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. * Melvin P. Unger
''Historical Dictionary of Choral Music'', p. 175.
Scarecrow Press, 2010. *

* Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther
''Sermons and prayers for Reformation and Luther commemorations'', p. 161.
Joel Baseley, 2008. * Jan Dismas Zelenkabr>''Ecce quomodo''
at

External links

* {{Book of Isaiah Book of Isaiah Hebrew Bible words and phrases Tenebrae