November: the month we pray especially for the faithful departed and the poor souls in Purgatory. To this end, an offering here of Bach’s setting of “Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit” (Before Thy Throne I now appear), otherwise known as the “deathbed chorale.”
1. Vor deinen thron tret’ ich hiermit,
O Gott! und dich demüthig bitt’,
Wend’ dein genädig angesicht
Von mir, dem armen sünder, nicht
[1. Before Thy throne I now appear,
O Lord, bow down Thy gracious ear
To me, and cast not from Thy face
Thy sinful child that sues for grace.]
(Translation: John Christian Jacobi [1720])