BWV 436

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Original source: Chorale, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 436
Chorale Text: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern*, by Philipp Nicolai (1599)
Tune: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, by Philipp Nicolai (1599), after Straßburg 1538* (Zahn 8359)
First Performance: Unknown
Appearance in Early Collections (Key): Riemenschneider 278; Breitkopf 278; Dietel 59; AmB 46II p.271
Other Harmonizations: BWVs 1.6, 36.4, 172.6

Notes

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

On the origin of Nicolai’s melody: In a brief 1917 article, C. Sanford Terry has shown the close relationship of Nicolai’s melody to an earlier melody found in Wolff Köphel’s 1538 Psalter hymnal. The tune is used for a setting of Psalm 100, Jauchzet dem Herren, Alle Land. Terry states: "[The Psalter melody] consists of five lines or phrases, the first, second, and fifth of which, it will be observed, are practically identical with the first half of Nicolai’s tune." (The Musical Times, Vol.58, No.893 (July 1, 1917), pp. 302–303)