Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder

"Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder" ("Ah Lord, poor sinner that I am")^[1] is a Lutheran hymn of 1597, with text by Cyriakus Schneegass paraphrasing Psalm 6. It is commonly sung with a 1601 melody by Hans Leo Hassler. Johann Sebastian Bach based a chorale cantata on it.

Schneegass was pastor at the of the St. Blasius church at Friedrichroda; he was also a good musician who liked to use music in church services.^[2] In 1597 he paraphrased Psalm 6,^[3] following the example of Martin Luther to make the psalms accessible to Protestant church services in German.

The hymn is in six stanzas of eight lines each.^[2][1] It became associated with a 1601 melody by Hans Leo Hassler.^[4][5]

Johann Sebastian Bach used the complete hymn as the base for Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BWV 135, a chorale cantata composed in 1724.^[3]

• Braatz, Thomas; Oron, Aryeh (2005). "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Befiehl du deine Wege". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
• Browne, Francis (2006). "Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
• Dahn, Luke (2024). "BWV 135.6". bach-chorales.com. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
• "Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder BWV 135; BC A 100". Bach Digital. 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
• "Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder". hymnary.org. 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2017.