Week 4
O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß (Oh Man, Bewail your Great Sins), BWV 622
O man, your grievous sin bemoan,
For which Christ left his Father’s throne,
From highest heaven descending.
Of Virgin pure and undefiled
He here was born, our Savior mild
For sin to make atonement.
The dead he raised to life again.
The sick He freed from grief and pain.
Until the time appointed
That he for us should give his blood,
Should bear our sins’ overwhelming load,
The shameful Cross enduring
–Seybald Heyden, trans. Catherine Winkworth
BWV 622 is one of Bach’s most loved compositions across his entire output. Coincidentally, it is number twenty-three out of forty-six in the collection, coming precisely at the halfway point. Bach used the words of this chorale as the ending of the St. Matthew Passion’s first portion. In twelve short lines, it tells the story of Christ descending from heaven, being born of the Virgin Mary, raising the dead to life, and healing the sick all until he had to give his blood for us on the cross.
The chorale melody is highly ornamented (meaning Bach wrote complex elaborations on an otherwise plain melody). The musical word often used for this is coloratura, and this example is very intricate, especially for Bach’s compositions. The most striking portion of this composition is the ending. Suddenly, the ornamentations mentioned above stop, and the chorale melody is unadorned for four notes. Most interpretations cite this as depicting the final line of the chorale text: “Trug unser Sünd ein schwere Bürd wohl an dem Kreuze lange” (Our sin bore a heavy burden on the cross for a long time). The “Kreuze lange” is key here and illustrates why Bach would compose the melody as such. Also of note is a striking, surprising harmony Bach employs, using the note C-flat in the context of an E-flat major ending. This is possibly the most surprising harmonic moment in the entire Orgelbüchlein.