Chorale setting "Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille" in F major

Description

A hymn tune setting Paul Gerhardt's poem Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille (Be content and be still) in a gentle F major and 2/2, catalogued as BWV 510. The text speaks to a troubled heart, telling it to find rest in God, and was sung as a prayer at home. Anna Magdalena's 1725 notebook holds three pieces on the same poem, and this is the first of them.

It is in F major and 2/2, about 24 seconds long with 107 notes, the shortest of the three. The right hand sings the hymn melody over a supporting left-hand bass, simple writing that moves at a calm pace through the mild sound of the major key. Because it is in 2/2, feeling each bar as two broad beats rather than counting quarter notes makes it flow naturally.

It is rated beginner and is small enough to take on early in learning to read music. The range runs from C2 to G5, so it fits on a 61-key keyboard. The task is not to hurry a short piece, but to place each note of the melody carefully, like words. Once you have checked the two lines with the hand colours at a slower speed, play it alongside the other two settings of the same poem (BWV 511 and 512) to hear how the sound changes between major and minor.

Chorale settings by Bach, weaving intricate counterpoint around hymn melodies into solemn, prayerful music.