Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken
Encyclopedia
Musicalische Sterbens-Gedanken ("Musical Thoughts on Death/Dying") is a collection of keyboard
music by Johann Pachelbel
. It was first published in 1683 and contains four sets of chorale
variations
.
in 1683, Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken is now lost. According to Walther
's Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig
, 1732), four sets of chorale variations constituted the collection, and attempts have been made by musicologists such as Max Seiffert and Hans Joachim Moser to reconstruct the work using Pachelbel's surviving chorale variations. There is little doubt that the collection included the following three pieces:
Most reconstructions (and editions) include Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, chorale and 9 variations in G major (G Mixolydian), as the final work of the set, based on stylistic similarities. The status of this particular piece is, however, disputed; it has been suggested that Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele (chorale and 12 variations; survives as a copy made in 1716 by Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, JS Bach
's pupil), should replace Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan.
As the title indicates, the collection was probably influenced by the deaths of Pachelbel's first wife, Barbara Gabler, and their only child. They both died in Erfurt in September 1683 during an epidemic.
There is a simple tonal plan in the collection: the first and the last works are in G Mixolydian, the second is in the dominant
key of D major and the third is in the subdominant
key of C major (or the Ionian mode). The overall mood of the collection, supported by the major keys
, is lighthearted and optimistic. Each set, however, includes a single variation in which there is a subtle sense of grief supported by chromaticism
s.
. Variation 2 uses the melody in diminution
in the soprano, lower voices provide support in longer note value
s. Variation 3 utilizes the same principle in reverse, the chorale supported by shorter note values in the bass. Variation 4 consists of rapid arpeggio
s distributed between hands and based on the harmonic structure of the original melody. Variation 5 engages in three-part imitative counterpoint with the chorale in the middle voice in longer note values. The two-part Variation 6 utilizes more extreme and dynamic diminution and contrasts sharply with Variation 7, which is a slow-paced three-part exploration of the original melody, rich in chromaticisms and darker in mood than the rest of the piece. Variations 8 and 9 both use the melody in long notes (in the bass in Variation 8, in the soprano in Variation 9) with accompaniment in shorter note values. The last three variations change the metre
to 12/16 and somewhat gigue
-like, joyous in tone; in the final variation the melody is presented using sequences of thirds and sixths in the two upper voices.
An arrangement of this set of variations exists made by Johann Gottfried Walther. It contains 5 variations and is listed in the Perreault catalogue under number 377b.
in Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken. The original melody was in E Phrygian
, but Pachelbel, like many composers of the time, used an Ionian harmonization, presumably to avoid the mood of the Phrygian mode. Variation 1 is a three-part setting of the melody with the bass written out in short note values providing dynamic support to the upper voices. In Variation 2 the melody is subject to diminution, fast ornamented passages moving against the bass line written out in longer note values. Like in Alle Menschen müssen sterben, variations 3-6 all employ the melody unadorned and in original note values, with various kinds of accompaniment in shorter note values. Variation 5, the chromatic variation of this set, is a two-part variation and employs chromatic passages in the bass rather than in the melody. The final variation is based on melodic ornamentation, again with miscellaneous kinds of more or less fast passages accompanying.
Pachelbel's sacred concerto Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan is based on the same melody and is also a series of variations.
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
music by Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...
. It was first published in 1683 and contains four sets of chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
.
General information
First published in ErfurtErfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
in 1683, Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken is now lost. According to Walther
Johann Gottfried Walther
Johann Gottfried Walther was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era.Walther was born at Erfurt...
's Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, 1732), four sets of chorale variations constituted the collection, and attempts have been made by musicologists such as Max Seiffert and Hans Joachim Moser to reconstruct the work using Pachelbel's surviving chorale variations. There is little doubt that the collection included the following three pieces:
- Christus, der ist mein Leben, chorale and 12 variations, in G major (G Mixolydian)
- Alle Menschen müssen sterben, chorale and 8 variations, in D major
- Herzlich tut mich verlangen, chorale and 7 variations in C major (IonianIonian modeIonian mode is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new authentic mode on C , which uses the diatonic octave species from C to the C an octave higher, divided at G into a fourth species of perfect fifth plus a third species of perfect fourth : C D...
)
Most reconstructions (and editions) include Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, chorale and 9 variations in G major (G Mixolydian), as the final work of the set, based on stylistic similarities. The status of this particular piece is, however, disputed; it has been suggested that Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele (chorale and 12 variations; survives as a copy made in 1716 by Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, JS Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's pupil), should replace Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan.
As the title indicates, the collection was probably influenced by the deaths of Pachelbel's first wife, Barbara Gabler, and their only child. They both died in Erfurt in September 1683 during an epidemic.
Analysis
Each work in Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken begins with a four-part chorale setting followed by several variations, mostly in three voices. At the end, the four-part setting is played again. The variations themselves are not connected to individual stanzas of the chorales. The melodies Christus, der ist mein Leben and Herzlich tut mich verlangen date from the early 17th century, while the other two appeared during its second half and so are from Pachelbel's own time.There is a simple tonal plan in the collection: the first and the last works are in G Mixolydian, the second is in the dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
key of D major and the third is in the subdominant
Subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
key of C major (or the Ionian mode). The overall mood of the collection, supported by the major keys
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
, is lighthearted and optimistic. Each set, however, includes a single variation in which there is a subtle sense of grief supported by chromaticism
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
s.
Christus, der ist mein Leben
Variation 1 uses basic ornamentation of the melody in the soprano, while the two lower voices engage in imitative counterpointCounterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
. Variation 2 uses the melody in diminution
Diminution
In Western music and music theory, diminution has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series of shorter, usually melodic, values...
in the soprano, lower voices provide support in longer note value
Note value
In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags/beams/hooks/tails....
s. Variation 3 utilizes the same principle in reverse, the chorale supported by shorter note values in the bass. Variation 4 consists of rapid arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s distributed between hands and based on the harmonic structure of the original melody. Variation 5 engages in three-part imitative counterpoint with the chorale in the middle voice in longer note values. The two-part Variation 6 utilizes more extreme and dynamic diminution and contrasts sharply with Variation 7, which is a slow-paced three-part exploration of the original melody, rich in chromaticisms and darker in mood than the rest of the piece. Variations 8 and 9 both use the melody in long notes (in the bass in Variation 8, in the soprano in Variation 9) with accompaniment in shorter note values. The last three variations change the metre
Metre (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
to 12/16 and somewhat gigue
Gigue
The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite...
-like, joyous in tone; in the final variation the melody is presented using sequences of thirds and sixths in the two upper voices.
Alle Menschen müssen sterben
In Variation 1, the melody is ornamented slightly and basic imitative patterns are used in lower voices. A more elaborate melodic ornamentation is used in Variation 2, accompanied by longer note values. The next four variations all employ the original melody unadorned, accompanied by passages in shorter note values, sometimes engaging in imitative counterpoint. Variation 7 is the chromatic variation of the set; it is followed by the energetic two-part Variation 8 which is based on parallel thirds arranged in fast-paced passages.An arrangement of this set of variations exists made by Johann Gottfried Walther. It contains 5 variations and is listed in the Perreault catalogue under number 377b.
Herzlich tut mich verlangen
This is the only chorale in triple metreTriple metre
Triple metre is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 or 9 in the upper figure of the time signature, with 3/4, 3/2, and 3/8 being the most common examples...
in Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken. The original melody was in E Phrygian
Phrygian mode
The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...
, but Pachelbel, like many composers of the time, used an Ionian harmonization, presumably to avoid the mood of the Phrygian mode. Variation 1 is a three-part setting of the melody with the bass written out in short note values providing dynamic support to the upper voices. In Variation 2 the melody is subject to diminution, fast ornamented passages moving against the bass line written out in longer note values. Like in Alle Menschen müssen sterben, variations 3-6 all employ the melody unadorned and in original note values, with various kinds of accompaniment in shorter note values. Variation 5, the chromatic variation of this set, is a two-part variation and employs chromatic passages in the bass rather than in the melody. The final variation is based on melodic ornamentation, again with miscellaneous kinds of more or less fast passages accompanying.
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Variation 1 features imitative counterpoint in three voices and an ornamented version of the chorale. Following the example of Christus, der ist mein Leben, Variation 2 uses the melody in diminution, accompanied by longer note values in the lower voices and Variation 3 reverses this, using shorter note values in the bass to accompany the unadorned chorale. Variation 4 is the chromatic variation and its somber mood contrasts with Variation 5, which features a heavily ornamented version of the melody in the soprano, mirrored in imitative passages in lower voices. During the next two variations, the original melody serves as a background for the intricate imitative counterpoint in other voices (in Variation 6) and fast arpeggios (the two-part Variation 7). Variation 8 is in 12/8 and gigue-like, while the final variation engages in parallel thirds, reminiscent of all final variations of each set except the one in Herzlich tut mich verlangen.Pachelbel's sacred concerto Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan is based on the same melody and is also a series of variations.