page_title: Christ lag in Todesbanden
section_title: Melody
hierarchical_section_title: Christ lag in Todesbanden / Text and melody / Melody
caption_attribution_description: English: Beginnings of three medieval Easter tunes in comparison Deutsch: Anfänge der drei Ostergesänge Victimae Paschali Laudes, Christ ist erstanden und Christ lag in Todesbanden im Vergleich
context_page_description: "Christ lag in Todesbanden" is an Easter hymn by Martin Luther. Its melody is by Luther and Johann Walter. Both the text and the melody were based on earlier examples. It was published in 1524 in the Erfurt Enchiridion and in Walter's choral hymnal Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn. Various composers, including Pachelbel, Bach and Telemann, have used the hymn in their compositions.
context_section_description: The melody as set by Luther (with help from Walter) seems to have strong correlations with parts of the Eucharistic sequence for Easter, Victimae paschali laudes, believed to have been written by Wipo of Burgundy in the 11th century. This was transformed, gradually into a "Leise", a devotional German pre-Reformation song with a number of stanzas, but maintaining strong characteristics of plainsong.
  Johann Walter published "Christ lag in Todes Banden" with two variants of the hymn tune in 1724: Zahn No. 7012a, the tenth tune in the choral hymnal Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, is a setting of the hymn with stanzas of eight lines, the last line of each stanza consisting of the word "Halleluja". The other version, Zahn No. 7012b, appearing under the title "Der Lobsanck Christ ist erstanden / Gebessert" in the Erfurt Enchiridion and as ninth item in Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, is a setting of the hymn in seven-line stanzas, that is without the repeated "Halleluja" at the end of every stanza.
  Notwithstanding the fact that the version with eight-line stanzas had a rhythmically imperfect form (German: "rhythmische Gestaltung ist unvolkommen", according to Johannes Zahn), and that Walter only included the version with seven-line stanzas in his later publications, the former version was picked up in the hymnals of Klug (1535, 1543), Schumann (1539) and Babst (1545), and, with some rhythmical adaptations, henceforth became the standard for publications of the tune. Minor alterations of the tune, that is, without modifying its melodic shape, included the addition of passing notes and modification of rhythmic patterns to conform the chorale to emerging styles, and to fit the chorale into a regular time signature. For instance, in the first half of the 18th century, Johann Sebastian Bach based all his settings of the "Christ lag in Todes Banden" hymn (BWV 4, 158/4, 277, 278, 279, 625, 695, 695a and 718) on the eight-line variant of the hymn tune. The following four-part setting, with the last stanza of the hymn as text, is taken from his Christ lag in Todes Banden chorale cantata:
caption: Comparison of Victimae Paschali Laudes, "Christ ist erstanden" and "Christ lag in Todesbanden"
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