Aus tiefer Not schrei' ich zu dir

Georg Böhm (2 September 1661 – 18 May 1733) is notable for his development of the chorale partita and for his influence on the young J. S. Bach.

Böhm was born in 1661 in Hohenkirchen. He received his first music lessons from his father, a schoolmaster and organist who died in 1675. He may also have received lessons from Johann Heinrich Hildebrand, Kantor at Ohrdruf, who was a pupil of Heinrich Bach and Johann Christian Bach. After his father's death, Böhm studied at the Lateinschule at Goldbach, and later at the Gymnasium at Gotha, graduating in 1684. Both cities had Kantors taught by the same members of the Bach family who may have influenced Böhm. On 28 August 1684 Böhm entered the University of Jena. Little is known about Böhm's university years or his life after graduation.

In 1698 Böhm succeeded Christian Flor as organist of the principal church of Lüneburg, the Church of St. John (Johanniskirche). Soon after Flor died in 1697, Böhm applied for an audition for the post, mentioning that he had no regular employment at the time. He was promptly accepted by the town council, settled in Lüneburg and held the position until his death. He married and had five sons. From 1700 to 1702 he must have met and possibly tutored the young Johann Sebastian Bach, who arrived in Lüneburg in 1700 and studied at the Michaelisschule, a school associated with the Church of St. Michael (Michaeliskirche).

Böhm died on 18 May 1733 at the advanced age of 71. His son Jakob Christian, who would have inherited his post, died young. The position eventually went to Ludwig Ernst Hartmann, Böhm's son-in-law.

This is a sweet piece, but the tune seems "rare," and is oddly "happy" for the text. Initially, I took it much quicker, but decided to slow it down, but only because of the sorrow of the text.

The translation of the first verse appears in the First Comment.

The score is attached below, as well as a likeness of Böhm, and a photo of the organ in
the Johanniskirche in Lüneburg.