Hymnological Dossiers

With more than 150 hymnological publications from the early 18th century, it is almost impossible to study for yourself all the sources on every song about which Bach composed a chorale cantata. Yet attempting to do so can provide an inspiring challenge for those who want to get a better understanding of one or more of these cantatas.

Therefore, Lydia Vroegindeweij shares her working papers here for anyone who wants to delve further into this subject matter. She is open to collaboration with anyone wishing to take up this study. Please get in touch if you would like to join or find out more.

On the compilation of these documents

This material was compiled by Lydia Vroegindeweij as an aid to her research on Johann Sebastian Bach’s chorale cantatas. The publications of the 18th-century hymnologists offer good insights for studying the text and music of these cantatas on church songs. This is especially true for the two-volume Evangelischer Lieder-Commentarius by Johann Martin Schamel[ius] from 1724/1725. Since the original edition is not easily accessible to everyone, these working documents have been compiled for each cantata. In doing so, the following points of interest apply:

Sometimes Schamelius mentions a different lyricist for a song than later research has revealed. The box at the top gives the most recent information.
The texts of the chorale cantatas have been taken from Bach-Digital.de.
The arrangement in the table differs slightly from Schamelius, who placed the footnotes by letter below the last stanza of the song. For better use, they are now placed directly next to the relevant strophe.
The texts of the cantata parts have been placed with the relevant strophe as much as possible.
Not all typographical elements from the original edition have been imitated in this document. Please always consult the digital edition for this.

Available Hymnological Dossiers

Below are all the documents (PDFs) for each chorale cantata, placed in alphabetical order.