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

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( ) 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 prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...

start. In

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, Isaiah 57:1–2 is associated with the death of Christ, 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 a gradual extinguishing of candles, and the ''strepitus'' or "loud noise" in the total darkn ...

: 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 (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

, 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 The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

the 24th of 27 Tenebrae responsories, or the sixth responsory for Holy Saturday, is based on . In the

service of the

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

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 sing ...

is preceded by a reading taken from

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

's Commentary on Psalm 64 (63) § 13, interpreting (

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

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 Re ...

's ''

Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

'',Victoria 1585

Carlo Gesualdo Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (between 8 March 1566 and 30 March 1566 – 8 September 1613) was an Italian nobleman and composer. Though both the Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, he is better known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred ...

's ''

Responsoria et alia ad Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae spectantia ''Responsoria et alia ad Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae spectantia'' is a collection of music for Holy Week by Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo, published in 1611. It consists of three sets of nine short pieces, one set for each of Maundy Thursday, G ...

'',

Jan Dismas Zelenka Jan Dismas Zelenka (16 October 1679 – 23 December 1745), baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka was a Bohemian composer and musician of the Baroque period. His music is admired for its harmonic inventiveness and mastery of counterpoint. Zelenka was ...

's ''Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta'' ( ZWV 55) and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

'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 preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

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 ...

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 Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

set the responsory for two sopranos, alto and choir. Jacob Handl (

Jacobus Gallus Jacobus Gallus (a.k.a. Jacob(us) Handl, Jacob(us) Händl; between 15 April and 31 July 155018 July 1591) was a late-Renaissance composer of presumed Slovene ethnicity.Skei/Pokorn, Grove online Born in Carniola, which at the time was one of the ...

) 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 /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

of the preceding evening, for example

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

'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 produced a

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

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, 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 mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

included "Ecce quomodo moritur justus" as the last in his ''

Sept répons des ténèbres A sept () is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish clan, Scottish or List of Irish clans, Irish family. The term is used both in Scotland and in Ireland, where it may be translated as Irish language , Irish , meaning "progeny" or "s ...

'', FP 181, composed 1961. The Episcopal Church provides a single Tenebrae service on Wednesday evening, the day before

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...

. 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, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, among others at a funeral service for

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

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 ...

. 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 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, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

. Handl's motet was performed on

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

.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 composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

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

Der Gerechte kömmt um

Der Gerechte kömmt um Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...

'', 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, ...

Passion oratorio 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 (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 ...

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

attributed to

Johann Kuhnau Johann Kuhnau (; 6 April 16605 June 1722) was a German polymath, known primarily as a composer today. He was also active as a novelist, translator, lawyer, and music theorist, and was able to combine these activities with his duties in his offici ...

.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 wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...

. *

World English Bible The World English Bible (WEB) is an English translation of the Bible freely shared online. The translation work began in 1994 and was deemed complete in 2020. Created by Michael Paul Johnson with help from volunteers, the WEB is an updated re ...

(WEB): at

Other

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

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 Publishingbr>''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), also known as the ChoralWiki, is an online database for choral and vocal music. Its contents primarily include sheet music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing ...

(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''). Georgius Nigrinus, 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 (; 4 April 1805 – 30 January 1875) was a French priest and Benedictine monk, who served for nearly 40 years as the abbot of the monastery of Solesmes (which he founded among the ruins of a former priory at Sol ...

, 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; between 15 April and 31 July 155018 July 1591) was a late-Renaissance music, Renaissance composer of presumed Slovenes, Slovene ethnicity.Skei/Pokorn, Grove online Born in Carniola, which ...

(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 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de V ...

. * 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. *

br>''Ecce quomodo''
at

External links

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