Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken ("Musical Thoughts on Dying") is a collection of keyboard music by Johann Pachelbel. It was first published in 1683 and contains four sets of chorale variations. General information First published in Erfurt in 1683, Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken is now lost. According to Walther's Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), four sets of chorale variations constituted the collection, and attempts have been made by musicologists such as Max Seiffert and Hans Joachim Moser to reconstruct the work using Pachelbel's surviving chorale variations. There is little doubt that the collection included the following three pieces: Christus, der ist mein Leben, chorale and 12 variations, in G major (G Mixolydian) Alle Menschen müssen sterben, chorale and 8 variations, in D major Herzlich tut mich verlangen, chorale and 7 variations in C major (Ionian) Most reconstructions (and editions) include Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan", chorale and 9 variations in G major (G Mixolydian), as the final work of the set, based on stylistic similarities. The status of this particular piece is, however, disputed; it has been suggested that Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele (chorale and 12 variations), which survives as a copy made in 1716 by Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, JS Bach's pupil, should replace Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan. As the title indicates, the collection was probably influenced by the deaths of Pachelbel's first wife, Barbara Gabler, and their only child. They both died in Erfurt in September 1683 during an epidemic. Analysis Each work in Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken begins with a four-part chorale setting followed by several variations, mostly in three voices. At the end, the four-part setting is played again. The variations themselves are not connected to individual stanzas of the chorales. The melodies Christus, der ist mein Leben and Herzlich tut mich verlangen date from the early 17th century, while the other two appeared during its second half and so are from Pachelbel's own time. There is a simple tonal plan in the collection: the first and the last works are in G Mixolydian, the second is in the dominant key of D major and the third is in the subdominant key of C major (or the Ionian mode). The overall mood of the collection, supported by the major keys, is lighthearted and optimistic. Each set, however, includes a single variation in which there is a subtle sense of grief supported by chromaticisms. Christus, der ist mein Leben Variation 1