Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bonds

"Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands" is an arrangement of Martin Luther's text set to the 16th century tune with which it is associated. It is scored for SATB or SSAATB, depending on the choir's resources. It can be sung a cappella or doubled with keyboard. This arrangement uses J.S. Bach's harmonic structure of a 16th century tune. In verse 1, the soprano and altos sing the melody over open chords sung by the tenors and basses. Verse 2 alternates this treatment. Verse 3 places the melody in the second soprano and first alto parts, while the other voice parts round out the harmony. The text by Martin Luther moves from bondage to freedom, from darkness to light, from death to life. The melody, as set by Luther, with help from Johann Walther has strong connections to the famous Easter chants Victimae Paschali Laude and Christ ist Erstanden. Luther and Walther transformed elements from these chants to produce the hymn "Christ Lag in Todesbanden," which was published in 1524. Various composers, including Pachelbel, Bach and Telemann have used this hymn in their compositions. Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bonds Performance Notes 1. The organ accompaniment is optional. If using it should support, not dominate. 2. The Soprano/Alto divisi in verse 3 creates three voice parts. a. The melody is found in the 2nd soprano and 1st alto voices. b. Adjust the number of singers in each section per part according to your resources,