Georg Christian Schemelli

Title page of Schemelli's Musicalisches Gesang-Buch

Georg Christian Schemelli (born 1676 or 1678 or 1680 – 5 March 1762) was a German Protestant church musician. He is known for the publication Musicalisches Gesang-Buch, a collection of sacred songs to which Johann Sebastian Bach contributed.

Born in Herzberg, Schemelli was from 1695 to 1700 a student at the Thomasschule in Leipzig. From 1707, he held the position of church musician in Treuenbrietzen. From 1727 he was Hofkantor at the court of Zeitz, retiring in 1758. He died in Zeitz.

Musicalisches Gesang-Buch

See also: List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime § Spiritual songs and arias from Schemelli's Musicalisches Gesangbuch, List of songs and arias of Johann Sebastian Bach § Sacred songs and arias from Schemellis Songbook (BWV 439–507), and List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach § BWV Chapter 6

In 1736, Schemelli published in Leipzig his Musicalisches Gesang-Buch (Musical song book), also known as Schemellis Gesangbuch, a collection of 954 sacred songs with texts in the tradition of pietism, and probably intended for private contemplation. Only 69 of the songs come with music, a melody and a bass line. The melodies are often like simple arias, rather than like chorales.

Bach contributed to the collection, but musicologists debate to what extent. Schemelli's son Christian Friedrich was a student of the Thomasschule from 1733 to 1735, and later studied at the Leipzig University, which explains the contact. In the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV), numbers 439 to 507 list songs from the Gesangbuch, but his authorship is certain only for three of them, "Dir, dir Jehovah, will ich singen", BWV 452, "Komm, süßer Tod", BWV 478, and "Vergiss mein nicht, vergiss mein nicht", BWV 505. Bach probably wrote the bass lines for the others, and modified some of the melodies.

References

• Schemelli, Georg Christian (1736). Musicalisches Gesang-Buch, Darinnen 954 geistreiche, sowohl alte als neue Lieder und Arien, mit wohlgesetzten Melodien, in Discant und Baß, befindlich sind: Vornehmlich denen Evangelischen Gemeinen im Stifte Naumburg-Zeitz gewidmet (in German). Leipzig: Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. RISM 990003407 – facsimiles: szMJMq_zmygC at Google Books; 1077430 Liturg. 1372 o at Bavarian State Library; Musicalisches Gesang-Buch (Schemelli, Georg Christian) at IMSLP website.
• Emery, Walter; Butler, Gregory (2001). "Georg Christian Schemelli". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription required)

Further reading

• Leaver, Robin A. (2014). "Letter Codes Relating to Pitch and Key for Chorale Melodies and Bach's Contributions to the Schemelli 'Gesangbuch'". Bach. 45 (1). Riemenschneider Bach Institute: 15–33. doi:10.1353/bach.2014.a808494. JSTOR 43489888. S2CID 247621623.

External links

• Literature by and about Georg Christian Schemelli in the German National Library catalogue
• Schemelli's Hymnal Bach-Bibliography
• Georg Christian Schemelli (1676?–1762) French National Library
• Raymond F. Glover: The Hymnal 1982 Companion, Volume 1
• Geistliche Lieder und Arien BWV 439–507 Bach Cantatas Website
• Tobi’s Notenarchiv: Johann Sebastian Bach: Lieder, Arien und Quodlibet. Geistliche Lieder und Arien aus Schemellis Gesangbuch (capella-Format)