BWV 404

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Original source: Chorale, O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid!, BWV 404
Chorale Text: O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid!*, Verse 1: Friedrich von Spee (1628), Verses 2–6: Johann Rist (1641)
Tune: O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid!, Mainz/Würzburg 1628 (Zahn 1915)
First Performance: Unknown
Appearance in Early Collections (Key): Riemenschneider 57; Breitkopf 60; Birnstiel 74; AmB 46II p.147 (M3 lower, f minor); Levy–Mendelssohn 17; Fasch p.20
Other Harmonizations: BWV deest (O Traurigkeit)

Notes

This chorale survives without text. The text that appears here is the one provided by editors of the Bach Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA).

Speculation regarding liturgical occasion: Smend suggests that this setting may have served as the 44th movement of the lost St. Mark Passion (BWV 247) with the 8th verse of the chorale text O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid. (NBA III/2.2 KB, p.176) This speculation is supported by the settings’s position (Chorale #17) in the Levy–Mendelssohn Collection (NBA Source D), portions of which are organized by liturgical occasion — Chorale 16 is from the St. John Passion, Chorale 18 is speculated to be from Easter Monday, Chorale 19 is, according to Häfner, from the Easter Day cantata in the Picander–Jahrgang, and Chorale 20 is from the Easter Tuesday cantata, BWV 145.

View a complete listing of speculations regarding the liturgical occasions of individual BWV 253–438 chorales.