"Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" (Oh God, how much heartache) is a hymn in German in 18 stanzas attributed to Martin Moller (1587).[1] It is often catalogued as a paraphrase of the Latin "Jesu dulcis memoria", a medieval hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux,[2] but only a few lines refer directly to this song. Hymn tunes were composed for the hymn (Zahn Nos. 547–549),[3]: 154 and it is also often sung to a tune composed for "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" (Zahn No. 533).[3]: 150 The anonymous hymn tune of "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" first appeared in Wolflein Lochamer's Lochamer-Liederbuch, printed in Nürnberg around 1455.[4][5][6] In Leipzig in the 1720s, Johann Sebastian Bach composed settings of Lochamer's hymn based on four of his church cantatas and a sacred motet.[7][8]
Johann Sebastian Bach used the final three stanzas of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid to conclude Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, BWV 153, a church cantata composed for the Sunday after New Year's Day, 2 January 1724,[9] and the first stanza of the hymn as movement 4 of Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 44, for Exaudi, the Sunday after Ascension, 21 May 1724.[1][10]
The entire hymn is also the base for Bach's Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3, a chorale cantata composed in Leipzig for the second Sunday after Epiphany, 14 January 1725.[11][12] Bach also used the melody in two movements of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 58, a cantata for the Sunday after New Year's Day, 5 January 1727,[13] and he used the melody with the hymn text "O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" for the eponymous motet (BWV 118).[14]