Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld, also known by the title of its earliest extant printed libretto, Die leidende und am Creutz sterbende Liebe Jesu, is a Passion oratorio by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, composed in 1720. Its opening chorus is based on Paul Gerhardt's "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" and its usual hymn tune, Wolfgang Dachstein's "An Wasserflüssen Babylon" melody. The Passion oratorio was performed at least half a dozen times in various German cities during the composer's lifetime, and Johann Sebastian Bach reworked one of its arias to a cantata movement (BWV 200). History Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel was already an accomplished composer when he settled in Gotha, where he would remain for the rest of his life, in late 1719. His first large work for that city was a Christmas oratorio consisting of three cantatas, to be performed on three consecutive days in December 1719. Gotha 1720 In 1720, the libretto of Die leidende und am Creutz sterbende Liebe Jesu was printed in Gotha, where the passion oratorio was performed in two parts, on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Sondershausen 1730s From 1730, Stölzel provided liturgical music for Sondershausen. The score and parts of Stölzel's performance version of Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld, copied in Gotha, survived in Sondershausen, where the Passion oratorio was likely performed more than once in the 1730s. Leipzig 1734 Johann Sebastian Bach performed the Passion oratorio, under the title Der Gläubigen Seele Geistliche Betrachtungen Ihres leidenden Jesu, on Good Friday in 1734. 1736: Rudolstadt and Nürnberg Printed librettos of the Passion oratorio appeared in Rudolstadt and Nürnberg in 1736, indicating performances in both cities in that year. Göttingen 1741 Another printed libretto, published in Göttingen in 1741, mentioning Stölzel as the author of both the libretto and the music, indicates a performance in that city. Berlin manuscript A manuscript copy of the score, derived from the Nürnberg version, is preserved in Berlin and indicates a further 18th-century performance of the Passion oratorio. Music and text Stölzel's Passion oratorio is structured as a succession of cantata-like (contemplations). Typical for Stölzel's oratorios, the text of Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld is lyrical and meditative, rather than carried by a dramatic narrative, such as a Bible extract. Stölzel is the author of the Passion oratorio's libretto. The movements are recitatives followed by arias, and several chorales. The opening chorus is