Four Chorale Variations on Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ Georg Böhm (1661-1733).
Georg Böhm was born at Hohenkirchen, near Ohrdruf in Thuringia, and was organist at St. John's, the largest church in Lüneburg, which was situated on the large market square. Bach's biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, sent a list of queries to Bach's son Carl Philipp Emmanuel in 1775 and was furnished with the information that Böhm was one of the composers who had had a strong influence on his father. They probably knew each other when Bach moved to Lüneburg at the age of fifteen, and they were from the same area of east central Germany. Böhm appears to have extended Bach's musical horizons in important ways, especially as regards French composers. The music Bach would have heard was probably for manuals only, as the organ in the Johanniskirche did not have an independent pedal section until the renovation by Mathias Dropa in 1712-1714. This chorale partita, or set of five variations, falls into that category. Böhm's own harmonization of the chorale tune, based on a melody found in a manuscript from the Cistercian monastery of Medingen, near Lüneburg, precedes the variations. The first four will be played before the service. In his 1524 hymn book, Martin Luther supplied additional verses to the single one found in the ms.
Hymn No. 670 Come, Down, O Love divine Bianco da Siena (d. 1434); translated by R. F. Littledale (1833-90); Tune: Down Ampney, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).
This is a translation of four of the eight verses of a hymn published in Laudi Spirituali (Lucca, 1851), a collection of Bianco da Siena's hymns. Little is known about Bianco's life. Said to have been born in Anciolina, he entered a religious order of unordained men who followed the rule of St Augustine, which had been founded by John Columbinus of Siena. Richard Frederick Littledale was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where he was born, but he later moved to England, where he held curacies in Norwich and London. He was a man of considerable learning, and translated many hymns from an impressive array of languages. Vaughan Williams is one of the best known of recent English composers and contributed significantly to English church music.
Hymn No. 292 Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore Him Anon., Foundling Hospital Collection (1796); Tune: Laus Deo Richard Redhead (1820-1901).
The hymn was discovered on a four-page sheet at the end of some copies of the music edition of Psalms, Hymns and Anthems of the Foundling Hospital (London, 1796). The sheet had the title Hymns of Praise. For Foundling Apprentices attending Divine Service to Return Thanks. Hymn singing was a common practice in charitable institutions. Foundling hospitals, for the care of abandoned or exposed children, date back to the 7th and 8th centuries, but the London institution was founded by Captain Coram in 1739. Even in the latter half of the last century, it still maintained around 500 children. Redhead was organist at several London churches and was a noted hymnologist of his day, best known perhaps for Ancient Hymn Melodies and Other Church Tunes (1853).
Final Variation on Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ by Georg Böhm (1661-1733).
This chorale is especially associated with Christmas, but the sentiments seem appropriate for the third Sunday after Epiphany as well, especially as regards Luther's later verses: "The eternal light enters in and gives the world a new radiance; it shines steadily in the dead of night and makes us children of the light. Lord have mercy. The Son of the Father, God by nature, became a guest here in the world and leads us out of the vale of tears, making us inheritors in His great hall. Lord have mercy. He came to earth poor, so that He could take pity on us and make us rich in heaven, like His dear angels. Lord have mercy. All this He has done for us to show His great love, so all Christians rejoice and give Him thanks always. Lord have mercy."