As organist at Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach was
charged with providing a harmonic underpinning for the
singing of Lutheran chorale tunes chosen for each day.
Bach wrote out many of these harmonizations, in part as
instruction for younger composers (they are still used
for this purpose). A derivation of this practice,
Bach's conception of the organ chorale, as manifested
in the chorale preludes, dates from 1713 -1714, about
the time he became familiar with Vivaldi's
concertos.
In all hi...(+)
As organist at Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach was
charged with providing a harmonic underpinning for the
singing of Lutheran chorale tunes chosen for each day.
Bach wrote out many of these harmonizations, in part as
instruction for younger composers (they are still used
for this purpose). A derivation of this practice,
Bach's conception of the organ chorale, as manifested
in the chorale preludes, dates from 1713 -1714, about
the time he became familiar with Vivaldi's
concertos.
In all his chorale arrangements, Bach took inspiration
for the style and atmosphere from the words of the hymn
on which his composition was based. But the main role
in his chorale partitas seems to be given to pure
pleasure in playing and inventiveness. For his
variations on ‘Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig’, he
literally pulls out all the stops. For over twenty
minutes, he explores the harmonic, rhythmic and
stylistic possibilities of the melody forming the base
of the piece. The art of variation was already
considered old-fashioned in Bach’s day. But Georg
Böhm, the organ virtuoso with whom the
fifteen-year-old Bach became acquainted during his
schooldays in Lüneburg, was a master of variation.
Through Böhm, Bach also came into contact with
Reincken, and through him with Buxtehude, who were both
composers with a flair for the art of variation. There
was much that Bach could learn from these masters, but
the challenge of variation must have held particular
appeal for the young composer. It was not just
conceiving of the most varied and sophisticated series
possible, but also the virtuoso interpretation of that
series that provided the opportunity of rivalling his
idols.
The chorale partita (BWV 766-770) is a special form of
chorale arrangement, as the chorale (or hymn) serves as
the starting point for a series of variations. The art
of variation was at its peak in the seventeenth
century. Usually, a folk song was taken as the starting
point for a series of variations that increased in
difficulty and speed. The genre was not restricted to
keyboard instruments. The blind Dutch recorder and
carillon player Jacob van Eyck was also a master in the
art, for example. The five compositions by Bach bearing
the name of chorale partita do not come from a single
source, nor are they dated, but it is supposed that
they originated in his teens and may have been revised
later on.
Bach left four sets of chorale variations that are
fully accepted as his, of which this one is the
largest, best integrated, and most comprehensive in the
variety of variation techniques and textures that it
employs. The first three sets are all relatively early
works. The final set of chorale variations, the Canonic
Variations on "Von Himmel hoch," was written quite late
in Bach's life.
The exact timing of composition of this and the other
early chorale partitas causes lively discussion among
Bach scholars. The first two might have been written
when he worked in Lüneberg when he was between 15 and
17 years old and had a chance to work with Georg Böhm,
a composer prolific in the chorale variation genre.
Others point to the fine part-writing and motivic
development that developed later in Bach's career. The
style is consistent with compositions written in
Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, where Bach worked until 1708,
when he entered the service of Duke Wilhelm Ernst of
Saxe-Weimar. Some scholars point out that Bach was
known to write music in the style of this partita
during his Weimar years.
At any rate, this is a very inventive set of 11
variations on the theme of the chorale "Sei gegrüsset,
Jesu gütig," (I Greet Thee, Merciful Jesus). The
composition quotes the chorale in full as its opening
statement, then presents its series of variations,
using different variation techniques in each one. The
other two sets of chorale variations are notable for
not requiring pedals, and only five of these variations
require them -- raising the possibility that Bach
allowed for the music to be played by home keyboard
musicians. The hymn tune itself is almost always easily
heard, often in the top voice of the texture. The final
section is a dazzling piece for full organ in five
voices. It is possible that the individual variations
in this set originated at different times and places, a
supposition that is strengthened by some differences in
quality among the variations.
No definitive manuscript of the work survives in Bach's
hand, and it has come down in a variety of different
printed editions and hand copies made by others. These
sources have some differences in detail and in the
order of the variations themselves.
Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created
this Interpretation of the Chorale Partita (BWV 768)
from "Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig" (I Greet Thee,
Merciful Jesus) for Woodwind Quartet (Flute, Oboe,
English Horn & Bassoon).
PARTITION