Georg Christian Schemelli
Illustration — 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. From 1707, he held the position of church musician in Treuenbrietzen.
Georg Christian Schemelli
[1] · Public domain
- Born
- 1680 · Herzberg (Elster).
- Died
- 1762 · Zeitz.
- Nationality
- Germany
- Occupation
- composer
- Movements
- Baroque music
- Education
- Thomasschule zu Leipzig
- Languages
- German
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Illustration — 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. From 1707, he held the position of church musician in Treuenbrietzen.
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Musicalisches Gesang-Buch
Musicalisches Gesang-Buch
From 1727 he was Hofkantor at the court of Zeitz, retiring in 1758. He died in Zeitz.
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. Only 69 of the songs come with music, a melody and a bass line. 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.
Musicalisches Gesang-Buch, hg. von Georg Christian Schemelli 1736: Schluss des Vorworts mit Bezug auf die Mitarbeit Johann Sebastian Bachs
Friedrich Schulze, Schlossprediger und Stiftssuperintendent in Zeitz · [1]
Martin Janus: Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne, Version in Schemellis Gesangbuch (Leipzig 1736), an dem Johann Sebastian Bach mitarbeitete. Die 6. und die 17. Strophe verwendete Bach in seiner Kantate 147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben. Dem Text wurden verschiedene Melodien zugeordnet, u.a. Alle Menschen müssen sterben. Bei Schemelli steht die Melodieangabe Werde munter, mein Gemüte. Diese Melodie
Martin Janus · Schemellis Gesangbuch, Leipzig 1736, Nr. 93
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Herzberg (Elster).
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Zeitz.
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Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Leaver, Robin A. Letter Codes Relating to Pitch and Key for Chorale Melodies and Bach's Contributions to the Schemelli 'Gesangbuch'. Bach. Riemenschneider Bach Institute. 45. 1. 15–33. 2014. 10.1353/bach.2014.a808494.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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