"" ("Innsbruck, I must leave thee") is a German

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

song. It was first published as a choral movement by the Franco-Flemish composer Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450–1517); the melody was probably written by him. The lyricist is unknown; an authorship of Emperor Maximilian I, as was previously assumed, seems highly unlikely. Chester Lee Alwes writes that the song "became the gold standard of the

Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

genre".

Melody

There has been doubt whether the melody was in fact written by Heinrich Isaac or copied from earlier tunes. The melody was later used in a Lutheran chorale, "", and still appears in modern English-language

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christia ...

s under the name "Innsbruck", to a wide variety of text, of which the most common one is "The duteous day now closeth", a paraphrase of Paul Gerhardt's " Nun ruhen alle Wälder. The song exists in two different four-part settings by Heinrich Isaac: a with the melody in the

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

part (transcribed below), Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, Vol. 28, Vienna: Österreichischer Bundesverlag, 1907, p. 15 and a with the in the

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

part. << << \new Staff \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Staff >> >> \layout \midi The hymn "" by Paul Fleming (1609–1640) was written for the same melody.

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

used it in several

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s, especially in 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 chor ...

''In allen meinen Taten'', BWV 97 (1734).

Lyrics

The song is famously associated with the city of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

(in modern-day Austria). The lyrics express sorrow at having to leave a post at court, as the singer is forced to abandon his love and to depart to a foreign country. He promises her faithfulness and commends her to God's protection. Though Heinrich Isaac indeed spent some time in Innsbruck, the text was probably not written by him. The

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

ic form consists of six iambic trimeters with a A–A–B–C–C–B

rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB rh ...

References

Notes Sources * *

External links

* * * * , Die Singphoniker *
''Des außbunds schöner Teutscher Liedlein zu singen''
Nürnberg: 1561. (discantus, altus, tenor, bassus) {{Authority control Volkslied Innsbruck 15th-century songs

Melody

Lyrics

See also

References

External links