page_title: Orgelbüchlein
section_title: Lent BWV 618–624
hierarchical_section_title: Orgelbüchlein / Chorale Preludes BWV 599–644 / Lent BWV 618–624
caption_attribution_description: English: Image from File:12-scenes-from-life-of-Christ-Cologne.jpeg
context_page_description: The Orgelbüchlein BWV 599−644 is a set of 45 chorale preludes for organ — one of them is given in two versions — by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as organist to the ducal court in Weimar; the remainder and a short two-bar fragment came no earlier than 1726, after the composer’s appointment as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
  The plan was for a collection of 164 settings of chorale tunes sung during the Church year so that each part of the year was represented. Although this number was not to be, the Orgelbüchlein does span the calendar and more importantly signals a maturity and new breadth in Bach’s compositional style, not only with regard to this instrument.
  Each setting takes an existing Lutheran chorale, adds a motivic accompaniment, and quite freely explores form. Many of the preludes are short and in four parts, requiring only a single keyboard and pedal, with an unadorned cantus firmus. Others involve two keyboards and pedal. These include several canons, four ornamental four-part preludes with elaborately decorated chorale lines, and one prelude in trio sonata form.
context_section_description: BWV 618 O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig [Oh innocent Lamb of God] Canon alla Quinta play MIDI  • play MP3
  Below is the first verse and refrain of the third verse of this version of the Agnus Dei,  O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, with the English translation of Catherine Winkworth.
  O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig
  am Stamm des Kreuzes geschlachtet,
  allzeit funden geduldig,
  wiewohl du warest verachtet;
  all Sünd hast du getragen,
  sonst müßten wir verzagen.
  Erbarm dich unser, O Jesu.
  ∘∘∘
  Gieb uns dein Frieden, o Jesu.
  O Lamb of God, most stainless!
  Who on the Cross didst languish,
  Patient through all Thy sorrows.
  Though mocked amid Thine anguish;
  Our sins Thou bearest for us,
  Else had despair reigned o'er us:
  Have mercy upon us, O Jesu!
  ∘∘∘
  Grant us Thy peace today, O Jesu!
   BWV 619 Christe, du Lamm Gottes [Christ, Lamb of God] in Canone alla Duodecime,  a 2 Clav. et Ped. play MIDI  • play MP3
  Below is the first verse and refrain of the third verse of Christe, du Lamm Gottes, a German version of the Agnus Dei, with the English translation of Charles Sanford Terry.
  Christe, du Lamm Gottes,
  der du trägst die Sünd' der Welt,
  erbarm dich unser!
  ∘∘∘
  gib uns dein'n Frieden!
  Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
  Thou that bear'st the sins of men,
  Have mercy on us!
  ∘∘∘
  Grant to us Thy peace!
   BWV 620 Christus, der uns selig macht [Christ, who makes us blessed] in Canone all'Ottava play MIDI  • play MP3
  This setting of the Lutheran hymn Christus, der uns selig macht features the chorale in canon between the highest voice in the manuals and the pedal part. The original manuscript features passages in tablature notation, which has led to inaccurate readings in some published editions.
  Below is the text of the first and last verse of the Passiontide hymn with the English translation of John Christian Jacobi.
  Christus, der uns selig macht,
  kein Bŏs's hat gegangen,
  war für uns zur Mitternacht
  als ein dieb gefangen,
  geführt vor Gottlose Leut
  und fälschlich verklaget,
  verlacht, verhöhnt under verspeit,
  wie den Schrift saget.
  •••
  O hilf, Christe, Gottes Sohn,
  durch dein bitter Leiden,
  daß wir dir stets untertan
  Sünd und Unrecht meiden,
  deinen Tod und sein Ursach
  fruchtbar nun bedenken,
  dafür, wiewohl arm und schwach,
  dir Dankopfer schenken.
  Christ, by Whose all-saving Light
  Mankind benefited,
  Was for Sinners in the Night
  As a Thief committed.
  Dragged before a wicked Court
  Of the Jewish Clergy;
  Where they tried their worst Effort
  'Gainst the Lord of Mercy.
  •••
  Grant, O Jesu, blessed Lord,
  By Thy Cross and Passion,
  Thy blest Love may be adored
  By the whole Creation:
  Hating Sin, the woful Cause
  Of Thy Death and Suffering,
  Give our Heart to obey Thy Laws
  As the best Thanks-offering.
   BWV 621 Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund [As Jesus hung upon the Cross] play MIDI  • play MP3
  BWV 621 • 1:17
  Below is the text by Johann Böschenstein (1472–1540) of the first and last verses of this Passiontide hymn Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund with the English translation from the Moravian Hymn Book (1746). Usually sung on Good Friday, the hymn has as its theme the Seven Last Words from the Cross, each of the seven intervening verses meditating on a different Word.
  Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund
  und ihm sein Leib war ganz verwund't
  mit bitterlichen Schmerzen,
  die sieben Wort, die er da sprach,
  betracht in deinem Herzen.
  ∘∘∘
  Wer Gottes Mart'r in Ehren hat,
  und oft gedenckt der sieben Wort,
  des will Gott eben pflegen,
  wohl hier auf Erd'n mit seinem Gnad,
  und dort im ewigen Leben.
  When Jesus on the Cross was found,
  His Body pierced with many a Wound,
  With Torture very bitter;
  The dying Words, which He then spake,
  With a still Heart consider.
  ∘∘∘
  He who God's Pains in Honour has,
  To whom our Saviour gives the Grace
  To be in Heart possessing
  And weigh these seven Gospel Words,
  Enjoys a noble Blessing.
  The hymn melody is in the phrygian mode and dates back to the Reformation. In the generation prior to Bach, organ settings had mainly been made by composers in Southern Germany like Kindermann, Pachelbel and Fischer. 
  Unlike most of the other chorale preludes in the Orgelbüchlein, Bach did not use the choral
caption: Twelve scenes from the life of Christ, 15C painting from Cologne
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