Georg Christian Lehms (; 1684 – 15 May 1717) was a German poet and novelist who sometimes used the pen-name Pallidor. He published poetry, novels, libretti for operas, and the texts of cantatas.

Life Born in Liegnitz (now in Poland) in 1684, Lehms attended the Gymnasium (secondary school) in Görlitz and later studied at the University of Leipzig.

After spending some time at the court of Johann Georg, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, at the end of 1710 Lehms gained a position as court librarian and poet in Darmstadt, capital of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, where by 1713 he had been appointed to the Prince's council.Georg Christian Lehms (Librettist) at bach-cantatas.com, Retrieved 1 January 2012

Lehms died of tuberculosis on 15 May 1717, aged about thirty-three.

Works

Lehms's "gallant" novels (a term referring to fiction aimed at readers of both sexes) were among the earliest of such productions in German literature and began to appear early in his career under the pen-name of Pallidor. The first of these was Die unglückselige Princessin Michal und der verfolgte David ('The hapless Princess Michal and David pursued'), published in Hanover in 1707, followed in 1710 by Des israelitischen Printzens Absolons und seiner Prinzcessin Schwester Thamar Staats- Lebens- und Helden-Geschichte ('The Heroic Life and History of the Israelite Prince Absolom and his Princess Sister Tamar'), published by Zieger in Nuremberg; in 1712 the series continued with Der weise König Salomo ('Wise King Solomon').Germanic Notes and Reviews, vols. 26–28 (1995), p. 18

Lehms made his name with the collection Teutschlands Galante Poetinnen (Germany's Gallant Poetesses). The title page of Teutschlands Galante Poetinnen sums up the work thus:

Lehms wrote libretti for operas and cantatas. The cantatas, while being religious works performed as part of the Lutheran services of the Darmstadt court, can be seen as influenced by secular poetry like the cantatas of Neumeister. They were set to music by Christoph Graupner, the Kapellmeister, and his assistant Gottfried Grünewald. The texts were published and it is assumed that Johann Sebastian Bach obtained a copy.Alfred Dürr, Richard D. P. Jones, The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: with their librettos in German-English (2006), p. 16 While working at Weimar, Bach set words by Lehms for his first two solo cantatas. He avoided the poet's larger-scale work, going on to use the more intimate texts for another eight of his surviving cantatas. There is also evidence for a lost cantata (Cantata BWV Anh. 209) set to words by Lehms.

Selected works Die unglückselige Princessin Michal und der verfolgte David (The hapless Princess Michal and persecuted David) (Hanover: Nicolaus Förster, 1707) Des israelitischen Printzens Absolons und seiner Prinzcessin Schwester Thamar Staats- Lebens- und Helden-Geschichte (The Heroic Life and History of the Israelite Prince Absolom and of his Princess Sister Tamar)(Nuremberg: Zieger, 1710) Der weise König Salomo, in einer Staats- und Helden-Geschichte (The Royal and Heroic History of Wise King Solomon) (Hamburg & Leipzig: Johann von Wiering, 1712) Das singende Lob Gottes, in einem Jahrgang andächtiger und Gottgefälliger Kirch-Music (The Hymning of God, in an Annual Volume of devotional Church Music pleasing to God) (Darmstadt: Johann Georg John, 1712) Teutschlands Galante Poetinnen (Germany's Gallant Poetesses), in two parts, (Frankfurt am Main: Samuel Tobias Hocker, 1714–15; new editions at Darmstadt, Josef Gotthard Blaschke Verlag, 1966, and Leipzig, 1973)

Bach cantatas based on texts by Lehms The table of cantatas which Bach set to music is sortable by time of first performance, occasion in the liturgical year, BWV catalogue, Incipit and translation of the incipit.

+ Cantatas set by Bach on texts by Lehms Date Occasion BWV Incipit Translation Seventh Sunday after Trinity 54 Stand firm against sin Eleventh Sunday after Trinity 199 My heart swims in blood Christmas Day 110 May our mouth be full of laughter Saint Stephen's Day 57 Blessed is the Man Third Day of Christmas 151 Sweet comfort, my Jesus comes New Year's Day 16 Lord God, we praise You First Sunday after Epiphany 32 Beloved Jesus, my desire Second Sunday after Epiphany 13 My sighs, my tears Sixth Sunday after Trinity 170 Delightful rest, beloved pleasure of the soul Twelfth Sunday after Trinity 35 Spirit and soul become confused 1714? 1725? Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Notes and references

Sources E. Noack, "Georg Christian Lehms, ein Textdichter Johann Sebastian Bachs", in Bach-Jahrbuch 1970, pp. 7–18 Liselotte Brögelmann: Studien zum Erzählstil im idealistischen Roman (Studies on the narrative style in the idealistic novel), Dissertation, University of Göttingen 1953 (typescript) Christiane Brokmann-Noorens: Weibliche Bildung im 18. Jahrhundert (The Education of Women in the 18th century), Dissertation, University of Oldenburg, 1992, Alfred Dürr: Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (The cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach), 6th Edition, Munich / Bärenreiter, Cassel, 1995 Christoph Wolff (ed.): Die Welt der Bach-Kantaten (The World of the Bach cantatas), special edition in 3 vols., Metzler, Stuttgart / Bärenreiter, Cassel 2006, Metzler, Stuttgart / Bärenreiter, Kassel 2006, Gerhard Dünnhaupt: "Georg Christian Lehms", in Personalbibliographien zu den Drucken des Barock, vol. 4., Stuttgart: Hiersemann 1991, pp. 2576–88.

External links

Bach Cantatas Sorted by BWV Number

Works online Teutschlands Galante Poetinnen (scans at Wikimedia Commons; see also table of content at Wikisource)