Musicalisches Gesang-Buch (Schemelli, Leipzig 1736)

Georg Christian Schemelli (born 1676 or 1678 or 1680 – 5 March 1762) was a German Protestant church musician. He is known for the publication ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch'', a collection of sacred songs to which

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 ...

contributed. Born in Herzberg, Schemelli was from 1695 to 1700 a student at the

Thomasschule St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...

in Leipzig. From 1707, he held the position of church musician in

Treuenbrietzen Treuenbrietzen is a town in the States of Germany, Bundesland of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The municipality Treuenbrietzen is situated 32 km northeast of Wittenberg and includes the localities * city of Treuenbrietzen with its agglome ...

. From 1727 he was ''Hofkantor'' at the court of

Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded u ...

, retiring in 1758. He died in Zeitz.

''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch''

In 1736, Schemelli published in Leipzig his ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch'' (Musical song book), also known as ''Schemellis Gesangbuch'', a collection of 954 sacred songs with texts in the tradition of

pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy and ...

, and probably intended for private contemplation. Only 69 of the songs come with music, a melody and a

bass line Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and some f ...

. The melodies are often like simple

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

s, rather than like

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the t ...

s. Bach contributed to the collection, but musicologists debate to what extent. Schemelli's son Christian Friedrich was a student of the Thomasschule from 1733 to 1735, and later studied at the

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

, which explains the contact. In the

Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

(BWV), numbers 439 to 507 list songs from the Gesangbuch, but his authorship is certain only for three of them, "Dir, dir Jehovah, will ich singen", BWV 452, " Komm, süßer Tod", BWV 478, and "Vergiss mein nicht, vergiss mein nicht", BWV 505. Bach probably wrote the bass lines for the others, and modified some of the melodies.

Notes

References

* – facsimiles
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Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (german: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the bigg ...

; ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch'' (Schemelli, Georg Christian) at

IMSLP The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project, which uses MediaWiki software ...

website. * (subscription required)

External links

*
Schemelli's Hymnal
Bach-Bibliography
Georg Christian Schemelli (1676?–1762)
French National Library * Raymond F. Glover
The Hymnal 1982 Companion, Volume 1

Bach Cantatas Website

(capella-Format) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schemelli, Georg Christian German Baroque composers German classical organists German male organists People from Herzberg (Elster) People educated at the St. Thomas School, Leipzig 17th-century births 1762 deaths Male classical organists

''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch''

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Further reading

External links