Schemellis Gesangbuch (Schemelli's hymnal) is the common name of a collection of sacred songs titled ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch'' (Musical song book) published in

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 ...

in 1736 by Georg Christian Schemelli, to which

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 ...

contributed.

History

In 1736, Georg Christian Schemelli published ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch'' in

, a collection of 954 sacred songs. The full title reads "Musicalisches Gesang-Buch, Darinnen 954 geistreiche, sowohl alte als neue Lieder und Arien, mit wohlgesetzten Melodien, in Discant und Baß, befindlich sind: Vornehmlich denen Evangelischen Gemeinen im Stifte Naumburg-Zeitz gewidmet" (Musical song book, with 954 spirited, both old as new songs and arias, with well-composed melodies in soprano and bass, in it: mostly dedicated to the Protestant parishioners in the Stift Naumburg-Zeitz). The texts were written 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 Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

, and were 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, and classical music, for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and ...

. Many melodies resemble simple

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

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 (), 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 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, which explains the contact. In the

Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, 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 and the third edition in ...

(BWV) of Bach's works, numbers 439 to 507 list songs from the collection, 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 possibly modified some of the melodies.

References

Cited sources

* – facsimiles
1077430 Liturg. 1372 o
at

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, 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 biggest universal and research libra ...

* *

External links

*
Musicalisches Gesang-Buch, Darinnen 954 geistreiche, sowohl alte als neue Lieder und Arien, mit wohlgesetzten Melodien, in Discant und Baß, befindlich sind; Vornehmlich denen Evangelischen Gemeinen im Stifte, Naumburg-Zeitz gewidmet
1736
Schemelli's Hymnal
Bach-Bibliography * Raymond F. Glover
The Hymnal 1982 Companion, Volume 1

Bach Cantatas Website

(capella-Format) {{authority control Lutheran hymnals

History

References

Cited sources

Further reading

External links