“O Darkest Woe” is a gorgeous, albeit plaintive setting of the classic Good Friday hymn for SATB choir, two treble instruments, continuo, and optional violoncello. This piece is taken from Johann Meder’s St. Matthew Passion (1701) and has been arranged and edited by William Braun. The stunning final stanza features the choir in rich, slow-moving four-part harmony as the instruments hasten along, adorning the heaven-focused text. Purchase the instrumental parts separately at cph.org.
Johann Meder (1649–1719) was a Lutheran Kantor who played organ and composed many choral works. He was influenced by Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) through the Italian oratorio style. Meder wrote his St. Matthew Passion at the turn of the eighteenth century, notably before the great Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) wrote his St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion.
Meder’s St. Matthew Passion contains lines written for soloists who represent the different characters, including Matthew the evangelist and Jesus. In this way, Meder paved the way for Bach, who used this style (called arioso) in his Passion works. St. Matthew Passion also includes an instrumental ensemble—in this case, a relatively small ensemble of five instruments—to accompany the singing.
In addition to solos—recitatives and arias—the Passion also includes a number of chorales. Chorale is simply the German word for “hymn.” These chorales were sung by a chorus. Many of the Lent and Holy Week hymns we know can be found in both Meder’s and Bach’s Passions.
“O Darkest Woe” has its origin in the early seventeenth-century Roman Catholic liturgy for Good Friday. The text was written by Friedrich Spee von Lagenfeld (1591–1635), a Jesuit priest. He wrote seven stanzas, but only the first was retained by Lutherans and is in Lutheran Service Book (448). Lutheran hymnwriter Johann Rist (1607–67) discovered the first stanza of the hymn and wrote seven more stanzas. Six of these appear in LSB as stanzas 2 through 7. While the original seven stanzas in the Roman Catholic Good Friday liturgy made references to the Jews and to Mary, Rist’s text focuses exclusively on Christ.
The text has an unusual, distinctive meter, beginning with two brief, punctuated phrases: In stanza 1: “O darkest woe! / Ye tears, forth flow!” Rist carried over the use of “O” to begin many of his stanzas: “O sorrow dread! / Our God is dead” in stanza 2; “O child of woe: / Who struck the blow” in stanza 3; “O Virgin’s Son, / What Thou hast won” in stanza 6; and “O Jesus Christ / Who sacrificed” in stanza 7.
This pattern makes the text excruciatingly introspective. It lays bare the Passion of our Lord on the cross through the reality of our sin and through the atoning work of our Savior. These short phrases are arresting. They pull no punches and do not mince any words: “Our God is dead”; “Thy Bridegroom dead”; and “Our God, detested, died.” They are quintessentially Good Friday theology: God Himself became man, and God Himself died a torturous death for our sake.
This hymn has a somber, memorable tune. It matches the poetic meter well, beginning with the first two short phrases and concluding with three longer phrases that rise and fall with the text. William Braun has edited and arranged Meder’s setting of “O Darkest Woe” from St. Matthew Passion for SATB choir, two treble instruments, and continuo. A cello could also play the bass line of the continuo.
All seven stanzas appear in this piece. The first and fourth are sung by SA voices in unison. The second and fifth are sung by TB voices in unison. The third and sixth are sung in four parts by SATB choir in the same arrangement, and the seventh stanza is sung by SATB choir in a different arrangement.
The two treble instruments keep busy throughout the piece, beginning with a ten-measure introduction and continuing to accompany the singing. In St. Matthew Passion, the first instrument was an oboe and the second was a violin. Kantors and choir directors can use discernment to reassign instruments, although a soulful, mellow reed instrument is especially effective for the first part.
The final stanza, which ends with the lines “Be my life in death and bring / Me to heaven’s portals!” turns from a plaintive mood to an anticipatory one in the instrumental parts. This is a fitting conclusion to a Good Friday meditation, as it always anticipates what comes afterward: the resurrection of the dead.
Order a copy of this piece to play for your Lenten services.