O Ewigkeit, du Freudenwort

The melody for this choral is the same melody as for the choral "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort". And indeed, both texts deal with the same subject, eternity. Where "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" focusses on the fear the idea of eternity can inspire in man, "O Ewigkeit, du Freudenwort" focusses on the joy of eternity in heaven.

As they were written by two different poets and 'Freudenwort' is of a later date then 'Donnerwort' my guess is the 'Freudenwort' was a reaction to the other one, to emphasize that the idea of eternity does not have to be frightening for a true Christian. Or something like that.

As the melody of both chorals is the same, this composition of Marpurg could perhaps be used for both. However, since Marpurg explicitly write "O Eigkeit, du Freuden Wort" I guess he meant it to be a joyfull piece. To emphasize that I chose a plenum registration on a 16' b asis: strong, shining and full of confidence.

Score available here: http://partitura.org/index.php/friedrich-wilhelm-marpurg-o-ewigkeit-du-freuden-wort