"" (Lord Jesus Christ, you highest good) is the beginning of two Lutheran hymns. One is a

penitential A penitential is a book or set of church rules concerning the Christianity, Christian sacrament of penance, a "new manner of reconciliation with God in Christianity, God" that was first developed by Celtic monks in Ireland in the sixth century A ...

hymn, written in 1588 by

Bartholomäus Ringwaldt Bartholomäus Ringwaldt (c. 1530 – probably May 9, 1599) was a German didactic poet and Lutheran pastor. He is most recognized as a hymnwriter. Biography Bartholomäus Ringwaldt was born in Frankfort-on-the-Oder, Germany. From 1543, he studied ...

, 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 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 ...

's used the penitential hymn several times, including the

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the Germany, German Baroque music, Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chora ...

, based on the hymn.

History

Penitential hymn

wrote the lyrics of the

hymn in 1588, and possibly also created the melody. He wrote eight

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s, beginning "" (Lord Jesus Christ, you highest good, you fountain of all mercy).

Communion hymn

An anonymous poet, who was probably inspired by Ringwaldt's song, wrote a communion hymn of three stanzas, beginning "" (Lord Jesus Christ, you highest good, who invited us), taking not only the first line, but also the rhyme of the second from Ringwaldt's hymn. Its theology follows writing by Johann Arndt, who had written in ''Sechs Bücher vom wahren Christentum'' that God is good and the highest good, which can be tasted in his sacrament. The song appeared first in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

in 1713 in the hymnal ''Vollständiges Chemnitzer Gesangbuch''. The melody refers to Ringwaldt's song. This hymn is part of the Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' as EG 219.

Musical settings

Alternative melodies for both songs are the one of " Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir" and others during the 17th and 18th century.

Based on Zahn 4486, "Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist"

Bach used several stanzas of the penitential hymn. His settings are based on the Zahn No. 4486

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

, that is one of the melodies composed for " Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist". , one of his early cantatas is a setting of Psalm 130, containing two stanzas of the hymn which are juxtaposed in the manner of a

chorale fantasia Chorale fantasia is a type of large composition based on a chorale melody, both works for organ, and vocal settings, for example the opening movements of Bach's chorale cantatas, with the chorale melody as a cantus firmus. History Chorale fantas ...

with an

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 ...

. He used a stanza for , and he based , one of his chorale cantatas, on the complete, partly rephrased hymn. The chorale cantata was first performed on 24 August 1724, the eleventh Sunday after

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

that year. Bach composed a chorale prelude, BWV 1114, which became part of the

Neumeister Chorales The Neumeister Collection is a compilation of 82 chorale preludes found in a manuscript copy produced by Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757–1840). When the manuscript was rediscovered at Yale University in the 1980s it appeared to contain 31 previ ...

, rediscovered in 1985 by Christoph Wolff.

References

External links

Chorale sonata on "Lord Jesus Christ, you highest good"
Schott
Das I. Register
Geist-reiches Gesang-Buch

Index of songs by Johann Crüger
BWV 113.8
bach-chorales.com

musicaneo.com {{authority control 16th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns Hymn tunes