Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen
Sacred motet by Johann Hermann Schein
The composer
EnglishHow lovely is your dwelling place
TextPsalms 84:2–4
LanguageGerman
Composed1628 (1628)
VocalSSATB

Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen (How lovely is your dwelling place) is a sacred motet for four voices that Johann Hermann Schein, Thomaskantor in Leipzig, composed in 1628, setting verses 2–4 of Psalm 84 in German.

History

Johann Hermann Schein was Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1616 to 1630.[1]: 15  He composed the motet possibly for the funeral of Maria Magdelena von Claußbruch in 1628;[2]: 40  she was buried on 2 April that year and the sermon was given to the psalm text,[2]: 321  verses 2–4 of Psalm 84 in Martin Luther's translation of the Bible into German.[3] Schein set the motet for four parts, soprano, alto, tenor and bass (SATB), and basso continuo.[3][4] It was published by Carus and Bärenreiter.[3][4]

Music

Schein set Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen in four beats per measure /4/2) and D minor. The beginning has declamation mostly in homophony, while later the music features faster notes and imitation.[3]: 2  Schein used a madrigal style in the motet, depicting individual words in music.[2]: 290–291 [3] The swallow (Schwalbe) mentioned in the last line is illustrated by a leap down of an octave, and a slow rise afterward, like a swallow's "dive".[2]: 290–291 

<< \new Staff \with { \magnifyStaff #1.2 \consists "Merge_rests_engraver" } { \clef treble \time 4/2 \key a \minor \set Staff.midiInstrument = "trombone" \set Staff.midiMinimumVolume = #0.7 \set Staff.midiMaximumVolume = #1.0 \relative c' << { r2 a'4 a b8.( c16 d8. d,16 e8. f16 g8. a16 b4.) b8 } >> } \addlyrics { und die Schwal -- be } >> \layout { indent = #0 } \midi { \tempo 2 = 60 }

Performances and recordings

When Andreas Reize conducted a choral concert of the Gabrielichor in 2017, of music of Bach's predecessors as Thomaskantor, he ranked the motet as one of three pinnacles of motets before Bach, the others being "Unser Leben ist ein Schatten" by Johann Bach, and "Tristis est anima mea" by Johann Kuhnau.[1]: 9  In 2022, when he had become Thomaskantor himself, he programmed the motet for Deutsches Chorfest in Leipzig on 25 June 2022,[5] and for the first tour program of the Thomanerchor after the COVID-19 pandemic, performed at locations in Thuringia[6] and at the Lutherkirche, Wiesbaden as part of the R.[6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Musik der Thomaskantoren vor Bach" (PDF). Gabrielichor. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Tarling, Paul (15 January 2018). ""KrafftSprüchlin Altes und Newen Testaments": Johann Hermann Schein's Israelsbrünnlein (1623)" (PDF) (dissertation). University of Heidelberg. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Johann Hermann Schein / Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen" (PDF). Carus-Verlag. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Gelegenheitskompositionen, Teil 1". Bärenreiter. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "Deutsches Chorfest 2022" (in German). Deutschlandfunk. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Motette in der Thomaskirche" (PDF). mvmc.de (in German). 15 July 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Wenda, Manuel (11 July 2022). "RMF: Thomanerchor zeigt Akkuratesse und Spiritualität". Main-Spitze (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2022.
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