Vom Himmel hoch da komm Ich her

Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718 – 1795) was a German music critic, music theorist and composer.

He was friendly and active with many figures of the Enlightenment of the 18th century.
Little is known of Marpurg's early life. According to various sources, he studied "philosophy" and music. It is clear that he enjoyed a strong education and was friendly with various leading figures of the Enlightenment.

In 1746, he travelled to Paris as the secretary for a General named either Rothenberg or Bodenberg. There, he became acquainted with important intellectual luminaries, such as the writer and philosopher Voltaire, the mathematician d'Alembert and the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau.

After 1746, he returned to Berlin where he was more or less independent. Marpurg's offer to write exclusively for Breitkopf & Härtel was declined by the firm in 1757.

In 1760, he received an appointment to the Royal Prussian Lotteries, whose director he became in 1763, receiving the title of War Councillor.

Marpurg's quarrelsome disposition and his enthusiasm for public polemics made him many enemies.

Contemporaries also described him, however, as courteous and open-hearted.

Marpurg published the bulk of his writings on music between 1750 and 1763.
After he had attained his lottery position in 1763, he penned two works on this topic but continued to write on wider areas of music.

One of the first (and most influential) works of Marpurg was his tract on the Fugue (1753) which is considered one of the oldest sources for the performance practice of J.S. Bach's Art of the Fugue.

In my copy of this piece the missing lining on the first stave of the second page made it very difficult to read the notes, so I had to guess what was actually written.

In the final strophe the melody line in the bass was strengthened by the 8' chamade trumpet.