Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes
Encyclopedia
Chorale prelude
In music, a chorale prelude is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 examples of the form in his Orgelbüchlein.-Function:The liturgical...
s for organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
prepared by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
in his final decade 1740-1750, from earlier works composed in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
, where he was court organist. The works form an encyclopedic collection of large scale chorale preludes, in a variety of styles harking back to the previous century, that Bach gradually perfected during his career. Together with the Orgelbüchlein
Orgelbüchlein
The Orgelbüchlein was written by Johann Sebastian Bach during the period of 1708–1714, while he was court organist at the ducal court in Weimar...
, the Schübler Chorales
Schübler Chorales
Schübler Chorales is a name usually given to the Sechs Chorale von verschiedener Art for organ , a collection of six chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach, issued around 1748. The title 'Schübler Chorales' derives from the engraver and publisher Johann Georg Schübler, who is named on the title...
and the third book of the Clavier-Übung
Clavier-Übung III
The Clavier-Übung III, sometimes referred to as the German Organ Mass, is a collection of compositions for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–6 and published in 1739. It is considered to be Bach's most significant and extensive work for organ, containing some of his musically most...
, they represent the summit of Bach's sacred music for solo organ.
History
Early versions of almost all the chorale preludes are thought to date back to 1710–1714, during the period 1708–1717 when Bach served as court organist and concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
, at the court of Wilhelm Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
Wilhelm Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Weimar was a duke of Saxe-Weimar.He was born in Weimar, the eldest son of Johann Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Christine Elisabeth of Holstein-Sonderburg....
.
As a result of encouragement from the Duke, a devout Lutheran and music lover, Bach developed secular and liturgical organ works of all forms, in what was to be his most productive period for organ composition. As his son Carl Philip Emanuel Bach mentions in his obituary or nekrolog: "His grace's delight in his playing fired him to attempt everything possible in the art of how to treat the organ. Here he also wrote most of his organ works." During Bach's time at Weimar, the chapel organ there was extensively improved and enlarged; occupying a loft at the east end of the chapel just below the roof, it had two manual keyboards, a pedalboard and about a dozen stops, including at Bach's request a row of tuned bells. It is probable that the longer chorale preludes composed then served some ceremonial function during the services in the court chapel, such as accompanying communion.
When Bach moved to his later positions as Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
in Köthen
Köthen (Anhalt)
Köthen is a city in Germany. It is the capital of the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, about north of Halle.Köthen is the location of the main campus and the administrative center of the regional technical university Hochschule Anhalt which is especially strong in information...
in 1717 and cantor
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....
at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
in 1723, his obligations did not specifically include compositions for the organ. The autograph manuscript of the Great Eighteen, currently preserved as P 271 in the Berlin State Library
Berlin State Library
The Berlin State Library is a library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.-Buildings:The State Library runs several premises, three of which are open for users, namely House 1 in Unter den Linden 8, House 2 in Potsdamer Straße 33 and the newspaper archive...
, documents that Bach began to prepare the collection around 1740, after having completed Part III of the Clavier-Übung
Clavier-Übung
Clavier-Übung is German for "keyboard practice". In late 17th and early 18th centuries this was a common title for keyboard music collections, initially popular after its adoption by Johann Kuhnau in 1689, although today it is usually associated with Johann Sebastian Bach's series of publications...
in 1739. The manuscript is made up of three parts: the six trio sonata
Trio sonata
The trio sonata is a musical form that was popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries.A trio sonata is written for two solo melodic instruments and basso continuo, making three parts in all, hence the name trio sonata...
s for organ BWV 525–530 (1727–1732); the Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her"
Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her"
The Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" , BWV 769, are a set of five variations in canon for organ with two manuals and pedals by Johann Sebastian Bach on the Christmas hymn by Martin Luther of the same name...
BWV 769 added at the same time as the chorale preludes (1739–1750); and an early version of Nun komm' der heiden Heiland (1714–1717), appended after Bach's death.
The first thirteen chorale preludes BWV 651–663 were added by Bach himself between 1739 and 1742, supplemented by BWV 664 and 665 in 1746–7. In 1750 when Bach began to suffer from blindness before his death in July, BWV 666 and 667 were dictated to his student and son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnikol and copied posthumously into the manuscript. Only the first page of the last choral prelude BWV 668, the so-called "deathbed chorale", has survived, recorded by an unknown copyist. The piece was posthumously published in 1751 as an appendix to the Art of the Fugue, with the title Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein (BWV 668a), instead of the original title Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit ("Before your throne I now appear").
There have been various accounts of the circumstances surrounding the composition of this chorale. The biographical account from 1802 of Johann Nicolaus Forkel that Altnikol was copying the work at the composer's deathbed has since been discounted: in the second half of the eighteenth century, it had become an apocryphal legend, encouraged by Bach's heirs, Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach and Wilhelm Friedmann Bach. The piece, however, is now accepted as a planned reworking of the shorter chorale prelude Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein (BWV 641) from the Orgelbüchlein
Orgelbüchlein
The Orgelbüchlein was written by Johann Sebastian Bach during the period of 1708–1714, while he was court organist at the ducal court in Weimar...
(c 1715).
Compositional models
Orgelbüchlein
The Orgelbüchlein was written by Johann Sebastian Bach during the period of 1708–1714, while he was court organist at the ducal court in Weimar...
. Many of the chorale preludes pay homage to much older models in the German liturgical tradition (Böhm
Böhm
Böhm is a German surname, meaning Bohemian.It may refer to:* Carl Crack * Annett Böhm, German judoka* Corbinian Böhm, German artist* Corrado Böhm, Italian computer scientist* Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli, Austrian general of World War I...
, Buxtehude
Buxtehude
Buxtehude is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany in the district of Stade and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . Buxtehude is a steadily growing medium-sized town and the second largest in the district of Stade. It lies on the southern borders of the Altes Land within easy reach of...
and Pachelbel), but the parallel influence of the Italian concerto tradition is equally visible. It is a mid-eighteenth century salute to the musical traditions of the previous century. Unlike Part III of the Clavier-Übung
Clavier-Übung
Clavier-Übung is German for "keyboard practice". In late 17th and early 18th centuries this was a common title for keyboard music collections, initially popular after its adoption by Johann Kuhnau in 1689, although today it is usually associated with Johann Sebastian Bach's series of publications...
, where Bach pushed his compositional techniques for the organ to new limits, the chorale settings of Bach's Great Eighteen represent "the very quintessence of all he elaborated in Weimar in this field of art;" they "transcend by their magnitude and depth all previous types of choral prelude"; and they display a "workmanship as nearly flawless as we have any right to expect of a human being." The eighteen are characterized by their freely developed and independent accompaniment filling the long intervals between the successive lines of the cantus firmus, a feature of their large scale which has not pleased all commentators.
Chorale motet
The Renaissance motetMotet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
, in madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
style, forms the model for the chorale motet, used in BWV 665 and 666. Each line of the chorale is established as a point of imitation for the different parts, which keep to a common rhythm. This style, the earliest used by Bach, was that employed in his Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Unstrut-Hainich district, and lies along the river Unstrut. Mühlhausen had c. 37,000 inhabitants in 2006.-History:...
cantatas, such as the funeral cantata Actus Tragicus
Actus Tragicus
Actus Tragicus, sometimes credited as Actus Comics or simply Actus, is a group of five Israeli comics artists founded in 1995 by Rutu Modan and Yirmi Pinkus...
, BWV 106. A common distinctive feature is the use of musical figures to illustrate particular lines or even words in the hymn text.
Chorale partita
The chorale partita is a set of variations on a chorale melody. Normally each variation repeats the chorale melody and is essentially a separate movement. This style goes back to the Dutch composer Sweelinck and was adopted by his German pupils ScheidtScheidt
Scheidt may refer to the following:People:* Mathias Scheidt , Archbishop of Vienna * Samuel Scheidt and his younger brother Gottfried Scheidt , German Baroque composers of the North German school* Edward M. Scheidt , American cryptographer, ex-Chairman of the CIA Cryptographic Center* Daniel...
and Scheidemann
Scheidemann
Scheidemann may refer to:* Heinrich Scheidemann , German organist and composer* Philipp Scheidemann , German Social Democratic politician...
; the tradition was continued at the turn of the 18th century by Böhm
Böhm
Böhm is a German surname, meaning Bohemian.It may refer to:* Carl Crack * Annett Böhm, German judoka* Corbinian Böhm, German artist* Corrado Böhm, Italian computer scientist* Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli, Austrian general of World War I...
and Pachelbel from Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, who provided the model for Bach. Bach, however, broke the norm in the two chorale preludes of this genre, BWV 656 and 667, which each have only a small number of variations (3 and 2). This might be a homage to Buxtehude
Buxtehude
Buxtehude is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany in the district of Stade and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . Buxtehude is a steadily growing medium-sized town and the second largest in the district of Stade. It lies on the southern borders of the Altes Land within easy reach of...
, who had written similar partitas and whose music and virtuosity at the organ is known to have exercised a considerable influence on Bach in his youth.
Ornamental chorale
In the ornamental chorale, a form invented and popularized in Northern Germany by Scheidemann, the chorale melody is taken by one voice in an elaborate and highly embellished form. Buxtehude was one its most celebrated exponents, with his individual expressive "vocal" ornamentation.Five chorale preludes of the Great Eighteen were written in this style: BWV
652, 653, 654, 659 and 662.
Cantus firmus chorale
The cantus firmusCantus firmus
In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
chorale. the melody of the chorale is sounded in long notes throughout the piece, was established and popularized in central Germany by Pachelbel. One of his students was Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
, Bach's older brother, who in turn taught Bach keyboard technique. There are six examples of the cantus firmus chorale: BWV 651, 657, 658, 661, 663
and 668.
Chorale trio
The chorale trio has the form of a trio sonataTrio sonata
The trio sonata is a musical form that was popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries.A trio sonata is written for two solo melodic instruments and basso continuo, making three parts in all, hence the name trio sonata...
in which the upper parts are played on the two keyboards of the organ and the basso continuo part is played on the pedals. Bach elevated this form to the status of contemporary Italian trio sonatas or double concertos of Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
and Giuseppe Torelli
Giuseppe Torelli
Giuseppe Torelli was an Italian violist, violinist, teacher, and composer.Torelli is most remembered for his contributions to the development of the instrumental concerto Giuseppe Torelli (April 22, 1658 – February 8, 1709) was an Italian violist, violinist, teacher, and composer.Torelli is most...
: it is probably his single most original innovation in the repertoire of organ chorales. The three virtuosic chorale preludes of this type are BWV 655, 660 and 664.
Chorale Preludes BWV 651–668
- The brief descriptions of the chorale preludes are based on the detailed analysis in and .
- To listen to a midi recording, please click on the link.
- BWV 651 Fantasia super Komm, Heiliger Geist [Come, Holy Ghost], canto fermo in Pedale (cantus fermus chorale)
- Over the pedal chorale melody sweeps an exuberant toccata, conveying the "rushing mighty wind" of the Holy Spirit; a second ornamented subject symbolises the Hallelujas at the culmination of the hymn.
- BWV 652 Komm, Heiliger Geist [Come, Holy Ghost], alio modo a 2 Clav. e Pedale (ornamental chorale)
- The ornate chorale melody sings out above a lyrical and calm three-part sarabande, with flowing semiquavers marking the Hallelujas of the coda, in this, the longest of the chorale preludes.
- BWV 653 An Wasserflüssen Babylon [By the waters of Babylon], a 2 Clav. e Pedale (ornamental chorale)
- The gentle ritornelloRitornelloA ritornello is a recurring passage in Baroque music for orchestra or chorus. The first or final movement of a solo concerto or aria may be in "ritornello form", in which the ritornello is the opening theme, always played by tutti, which returns in whole or in part and in different keys throughout...
s of the accompanying parts in the two upper parts and pedal of this sarabande, anticipate the ornamented chorale in the tenor, evoking the mournful tone of the hymn, the "organs and harps, hung up on willow trees", based on Psalm 137Psalm 137Psalm 137 is one of the best known of the Biblical psalms. Its opening lines, "By the rivers of Babylon..." have been set to music on several occasions....
. In a famous concert in 1720 on the great organ in St Catherine's Church in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Bach had improvised for almost half an hour on the same hymn tune as a tribute to the church's organist Johann Adam Reinken and his celebrated fantasy on the same theme.
- BWV 654 Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele [Adorn yourself, dear soul], a 2 Clav. e Pedale (ornamental chorale)
- The soberly ornamented, but melismatic, chorale in the soprano alternates with the dance-like ritornellos of the two intertwining lower parts above a pedal bass; the unearthly counterpoint between the four different parts creates an air of great serenity, a "rapturous meditation" on the rite of communion. The adornment in the title is illustrated by the French-style ornamentation of the upper parts.
- BWV 655 Trio super Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend [Lord Jesu Christ, turn to us], a 2 Clav. e Pedale (chorale trio)
- Similar in texture to movements from the organ trio sonataTrio sonataThe trio sonata is a musical form that was popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries.A trio sonata is written for two solo melodic instruments and basso continuo, making three parts in all, hence the name trio sonata...
s, this jubilant and lively concerto-like chorale prelude echos the "eternal joy and blissful light" of the last verse. The chorale prelude's progression through the keys of G, D, E minor, B minor, D and finally G, is reminiscent of Vivaldi concertos. The two manual solo parts and pedal continuo are based on elements from the cantus fermus, which is heard in its entirety in the pedal part of the recapitulation.
- BWV 656 O Lamm Gottes unschuldig [Oh innocent lamb of God], 3 Versus (chorale partita)
- The first verse of this Good FridayGood FridayGood Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
hymn, is a subdued prelude in four parts based on the cantus firmus, which appears explicitly in the soprano line over the flowing quaver accompaniment; in the second verse the cantus firmus moves to the alto line and the quaver figures become more lively; in the final verse, the pedal finally appears to take up the cantus firmus, beneath a four part fugal counter-subject in triplets, first in a forthright angular figuration, then in hammered repeated notes leading to an anguished chromatic passage, indicative of the crucifixion, and finally in peaceful flowing quavers.
- BWV 657 Nun danket Alle Gott
[ Now Thank We All Our GodNow Thank We All Our God"Now thank we all our God" is a popular Christian hymn. It is a translation from the German "Nun danket alle Gott", written circa 1636 by Martin Rinkart , which in turn was inspired by Sirach, chapter 50 verses 22–24, from the praises of Simon the high priest...] (Leuthen ChoraleLeuthen choraleThe Leuthen Chorale was a tune originally composed in the seventeenth century by Johannes Crüger, tutor to the von Blumenthal family and Director of Music at the Nikolaikirche in Berlin. It was used as the setting for Martin Rinckart's hymn Nun danket alle Gott . This hymn is the basis for two J.S...
), a 2 Clav. e Pedale, canto fermo in Soprano (cantus fermus chorale)
- This chorale prelude closely follows the model of Pachelbel, with a diversity of imitative elements in the lower parts, beneath the unadorned cantus firmus of the soprano line.
- BWV 658 Von Gott will ich nicht lassen [I will not forsake the Lord], Canto fermo in Pedale (cantus fermus chorale)
- The ornate three part keyboard accompaniment is derived from the opening notes of the hymn and a separate "joy motif" that permeates the piece, exquisitely "winding above and around [the chorale melody] like a luxurious garland of amaranth." Only four lines of the cantus fermus are heard in the tenor pedal, the chorale prelude closing with a seemingly timeless bell-like coda over a pedal point, perhaps illustrating the final lines of the hymn, "after death we will be buried deep in the earth; when we have slept, we will be awoken by God."
- BWV 659 Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland [Come now, Saviour of the heathen], a 2 Clav. e Pedale (ornamental chorale)
- Over the quavers of the continuo-like "walking bass" in the pedal, the two inner parts move forward meditatively in canon, beneath the florid and melismatic cantus fermus. The beautiful melody, endlessly prolonged and never fully perceptible amid the freely spiraling arabesques, evokes the mystery of the incarnationIncarnation (Christianity)The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...
; it is matched by the perfection of the accompaniment.
- BWV 660 Trio super Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland [Come now, Saviour of the heathen], a due Bassi e canto fermo (chorale trio)
- This chorale prelude is unusually scored as a two part invention for pedal and bass, with the ornamented cantus firmus in the soprano line following the original hymn melody fairly closely.
- BWV 661 Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland [Come now, Saviour of the heathen], in Organo Pleno, Canto fermo in Pedale (cantus fermus chorale)
- Beneath a three part keyboard fugue, typical of Bach's large scale free organ fugues, with an angular quaver theme derived from the melody, the cantus firmus is heard in the pedal; the fugal theme, its counter-subject and their inversions are combined in numerous ways in the course of the piece.
- BWV 662 Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr [Alone to God on high be honour], a 2. Clav. e Pedale, Canto fermo in Soprano (ornamental chorale)
- This chorale prelude, unusually marked adagio, is based on a version of the hymn Gloria in excelsis DeoGloria in Excelsis Deo"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...
. It has two ornate fugal inner parts over a continuo-like pedal, with a florid and melismatic cantus firmus in the soprano, its figurations reminiscent of those for obligato violin or oboe in the WeimarWeimarWeimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
cantatas (e.g. the sinfoniaSinfoniaSinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite...
of Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21.
- BWV 663 Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr [Alone to God on high be honour], a 2. Clav. e Pedale, Canto fermo in Tenore (cantus firmus chorale)
- The accompanying ritornello of this chorale prelude takes the form of a trio sonata, the two fantasia-like upper parts, with their lively constantly varying contrapuntal quaver figurations, matched by a solid pedal continuo; the aria-like ornamented cantus firmus is heard in the long tenor part, with its quaver melismas and sighs.
- BWV 664 Trio super Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr [Alone to God on high be honour], a 2. Clav. e Pedale (chorale trio)
- This is another chorale prelude similar to movements from the organ trio sonataTrio sonataThe trio sonata is a musical form that was popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries.A trio sonata is written for two solo melodic instruments and basso continuo, making three parts in all, hence the name trio sonata...
s, inventive, scintillating, joyous and concerto-like; the two independent solo parts and the pedal continuo are based on elements from the cantus fermus, the first two phrases of which are only heard right at the end of the piece in the pedal before the final pedal point and coda. The chorale prelude is in three parts: six fugal statements of the ritornello; a series of brilliant violinistic episodes with suspensions, semiquavers and prolonged trills, punctuated twice by the ritornello in the minor mode; and a return of the ritornello over the cantus firmus ending in a long pedal point.
- BWV 665 Jesus Christus, unser Heiland [Jesus Christ, our Saviour], sub Communione, Pedaliter (chorale motet)
- In this choral prelude, each of the four lines of the cantus firmus passes through the four different voices, accompanied by a counter-subject giving the musical colour appropriate to that line: the carrying of the Cross; God's anger; Christ's bitter suffering; and resurrection from the torment of Hell, for which Bach provides the longest and most elaborate pedal point of the whole collection.
- BWV 666 Jesus Christus, unser Heiland [Jesus Christ, our Saviour], alio modo (chorale motet)
- This short chorale prelude for keyboard alone is a simple form of the chorale motet, with the cantus firmus again passed between parts and a different counter-subject for each of the four lines of the hymn.
- BWV 667 Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, heiliger Geist [Come, God, the Creator, Holy Ghost], in Organo pleno con Pedale obligato (chorale partita)
- This chorale prelude consists of two variations linked by a bridging interlude: the first is a miniature chorale prelude similar to BWV 631 in the OrgelbüchleinOrgelbüchleinThe Orgelbüchlein was written by Johann Sebastian Bach during the period of 1708–1714, while he was court organist at the ducal court in Weimar...
, with an uninterrupted cantus firmus in the soprano line; in the second, the four lines of the cantus firmus are heard in the pedal, beneath a flowing imitative ritornello accompaniment on the keyboard.
- BWV 668 Vor deinen Thron tret' ich [Before your throne I now appear] (fragment) (cantus firmus chorale)
- The three part imitative accompaniment in the pedal and lower keyboard of this chorale prelude is based on figures derived from the 4 different lines of the melody and their inversions; each line of the cantus firmus itself is heard in the simple soprano line, stripped of any embellishment, after its pre-imitation in the ritornello parts.
Variants
The original chorale preludes composed in WeimarWeimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
are numbered BWV 651a, 652a, etc. When there are two or three earlier versions, the numbering uses other letters of the alphabet, for example BWV 655a, 655b and 665c. The variant BWV 668a is the complete version of the chorale prelude that was published as an appendix to the Art of the Fugue, possibly to compensate for the unfinished final fugue, Contrapunctus XIV.
Publication
The Great Eighteen were known throughout Germany by the turn of the nineteenth century, but only the last chorale prelude was available in print, in several editions, thanks to its reputation as the "deathbed chorale". Prior to the two Leipzig editions of Felix MendelssohnFelix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
in 1846 (which omitted BWV 664, 665, 666 and 668) and of Griepenkerl and Roitzsch in 1847 (which was complete), the only other published chorale prelude of the Great Eighteen was the brilliant trio Allein Gott BWV 664, which appeared in 1803 as one of the 38 chorale preludes in J. G. Schicht's four-volume anthology. The two chorale preludes Nun komm' der heiden Heiland, BWV 659, and Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654, had nevertheless become favourites. Mendelssohn and Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
both venerated Schmücke dich: Schumann recalled Mendelssohn confessing after one performance that, "If life were to deprive me of hope and faith, this single chorale would replenish me with them both." Following Mendelssohn's popularization of these works, the definitive Bach-Gesellschaft edition, edited by Wilhelm Rust
Wilhelm Rust
Wilhelm Rust was a German musicologist and composer. He is most noted today for his substantial contributions to the Bach Gesellschaft edition of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach....
, was published in Leipzig in 1875.
Transcriptions
Selected recordings
- Bernard Foccroulle, Leipzig Chorales, Ricercar, RIC212 (2 discs). Recorded in 2002 on the large Silbermann organ in Freiberg Cathedral, Germany, dating from 1714. The recording also includes the Preludes and Fugues BWV 546 and 547, and the Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch", BWV 769a.
- André IsoirAndré IsoirAndré Isoir is a renowned French organist.Isoir studied with Édouard Souberbielle and Germaine Mounier at the École César-Franck and under Rolande Falcinelli at the Paris Conservatoire where he won the first prizes in organ and improvisation in 1960.Thereafter he won several international organ...
, L'Oeuvre pour Orgue (15 discs), Calliope, CAL 3703–3717 (budget edition 2008). The chorale preludes, recorded in 1990 on the G. Westenfelder organ in Fère-en-TardenoisFère-en-TardenoisFère-en-Tardenois is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France, .-Population:-Personalities:It was the birthplace of Camille Claudel , sculptor and graphic artist.-Sights:...
, are contained on the last 2 discs, which are available separately. - Ton KoopmanTon KoopmanTon Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
, Schübler and Leipzig Chorales, Teldec, 1999 (2 discs). Recorded on the Christian Müller organ in Leeuwarden, interspersed with a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
versions of the chorales sung by the Amsterdam Baroque ChoirAmsterdam Baroque Orchestra & ChoirThe Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam.The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in...
.
External links
- Free downloads of the complete Leipzig Chorales (“Great Eighteen”) recorded by James KibbieJames KibbieJames Kibbie is an American concert organist, recording artist and pedagogue. He is Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan.- Biography :James Kibbie was born in 1949 in Vinton, Iowa, USA...
on the 1755 Gottfried SilbermannGottfried SilbermannGottfried Silbermann was an influential German constructor of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two.-Life:...
/Zacharias HildebrandtZacharias HildebrandtZacharias Hildebrandt was an organ builder, born in Münsterberg, Silesia. In 1714 his father, a cartwright master, apprenticed him to Gottfried Silbermann in Freiberg. In 1721 Hildebrandt finished his masterpiece, the organ of the Nikolaikirche Langhennersdorf...
organ in the Katholische HofkircheKatholische HofkircheThe Katholische Hofkirche is a Roman Catholic Cathedral, located in the 'Altstadt' in the heart of Dresden, in Germany. Previously the most important Catholic parish church of the city, it was elevated to cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen in 1964.-Overview:The Hofkirche...
: either search for individual works or download the whole collection - Recordings of the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes on a virtual organ