Komm, süsser Tod, komm, sel’ge Ruh’!
BWV 478 performed by Charles Daniels,
Mieneke van der Velden and Menno van Delft
at the Bartolotti House, Amsterdam
Behind the music
Story
Story
Extra videos
Extra videos
Texts
Texts
Credits
Credits
The world, that torture chamber
People can barely wait to close their eyes
In this sacred song, the woman at prayer begs five times for death. Five times, it seems she can already feel the blessed peace of paradise. She can barely wait to close her eyes for the last time, when the black world will make way for the blue of the heavens. This notion is deeply embedded in the Christian faith: on earth, hard labour awaits – Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice with his redeeming death – but to die is gain, as Paul said in his epistle to the Philippians.
Musicalisches Gesang-Buch G.C. Schemelli
In the eighteenth century, sacred songbooks for private use were an important aid in simple, domestic devotion. For example, no fewer than 17 editions of Johann Freylinghausen’s Geistreiches Gesangbuch were published between 1704 and 1734. Two years later, pietist Georg Christian Schemmel, alias Schemelli, launched his own songbook, containing no fewer than 954 songs, 69 of which included melody, text incipit and figured bass. In order to outdo the competition, he involved probably the most famous music consultant of all time, who happened to be his son’s music teacher: Bach. Following intensive research, only three of the 21 original melodies in the collection (BWV 439-509) can be attributed with certainty to the cantor at the Thomasschule: BWV 452, 478 and 505. The others are accompaniments, revisions and improvements. Bach’s precise role in Schemelli’s Gesangbuch will probably always remain a mystery.
- BWV
- 478
- Title
- Komm, süsser Tod, komm, sel’ge Ruh’!
- Instrument
- tenor
- Genre
- songs and arias
- Serie
- Schemelli's Musicalisches Gesang-Buch
- Year
- 1722-1725
- City
- Köthen/Leipzig
- Lyricist
- unknown
With support from
Stichting Elise Mathilde Fonds
Extra videos
Vocal texts
Original
Komm, süßer Tod, komm, selge Ruh!
Komm, führe mich in Friede,
weil ich der Welt bin müde,
ach komm! ich wart auf dich,
komm bald und führe mich,
drück mir die Augen zu.
Komm, selge Ruh!
Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh!
Im Himmel ist es besser,
da alle Lust viel größer,
drum bin ich jederzeit
schon zum Valet bereit,
ich schließ die Augen zu.
Komm selge Ruh!
Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh!
O Welt, du Marterkammer,
ach! bleib mit deinem Jammer
auf dieser Trauerwelt,
der Himmel mir gefällt,
der Tod bringt mich darzu.
Komm, selge Ruh!
Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh!
O dass ich doch schon wär
dort bei der Engel Heer,
aus dieser schwarzen Welt
ins blaue Sternenzelt,
hin nach dem Himmel zu.
O selge Ruh!
Komm, süßer Tod, komm, selge Ruh!
Ich will nun Jesum sehen
und bei den Engeln stehen.
Es ist nunmehr vollbracht,
drum Welt zu guter Nacht,
mein Augen sind schon zu.
Komm selge Ruh!
Translation
Come, welcome death; come blessed rest!
Come, bring me peace and quiet,
I’m tired of earth’s riot,
Oh come! I wait for you.
Come soon, and lead me through,
And close my eyes at last.
Come blessed rest!
Come, welcome death; come blessed rest!
In heaven await wonders
And all its joys are fuller
So I am at all times
Prepared to say goodbye
And close my eyes at last.
Come blessed rest!
Come, welcome death; come blessed rest!
O World, full of despair now,
I leave behind your cares now,
And this whole world of woe,
For heaven is my goal
That death will bring me to.
Come blessed rest!
Come, welcome death; come blessed rest!
O, would that I were there now,
Lord, with the angel choir now,
From this dark world to rise
Into the starry skies,
To God’s divine blue tent.
O blessed rest!
Come, welcome death; come blessed rest!
I long to see Christ’s face now
With angels take my place now.
My life has reached its end,
A last good night I send,
My eyes are closed at last.
Come blessed rest!
translation © Ruth van Baak Griffioen, 2023
Credits
-
- Release date
- 8 June 2023
-
- Recording date
- 12 May 2018
-
- Location
- Bartolotti House, Amsterdam
-
- Tenor
- Charles Daniels
-
- Viola da gamba
- Mieneke van der Velden
-
- Organ
- Menno van Delft
-
- Director, camera and lights
- Gijs Besseling
-
- Music recording
- Guido Tichelman, Bastiaan Kuijt
-
- Music edit and mix
- Guido Tichelman
-
- Camera, lights
- Nina Badoux
-
- Camera and lighting assistant
- Eline Eestermans
-
- Interview
- Onno van Ameijde, Marloes Biermans
-
- Producer concert
- Marco Meijdam
-
- Producer film
- Jessie Verbrugh
-
- With support from
- Stichting Elise Mathilde Fonds
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