The Neumeister Collection is a compilation of 82
chorale preludes found in a manuscript copy produced by
Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757–1840). When the
manuscript was rediscovered at the Yale University in
the 1980s it appeared to contain 31 previously unknown
early chorale settings by Johann Sebastian Bach, which
were added to the BWV catalogue as Nos. 1090–1120 and
published in 1985.
Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757 -- 1840) never met
Bach, but became a member of an organizati...(+)
The Neumeister Collection is a compilation of 82
chorale preludes found in a manuscript copy produced by
Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757–1840). When the
manuscript was rediscovered at the Yale University in
the 1980s it appeared to contain 31 previously unknown
early chorale settings by Johann Sebastian Bach, which
were added to the BWV catalogue as Nos. 1090–1120 and
published in 1985.
Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757 -- 1840) never met
Bach, but became a member of an organization the
composer had joined in 1747. Neumeister had also become
an admirer of his music and began assembling
manuscripts by various composers in the 1790s,
including 38 by Bach. The Neumeister Collection, as it
became known, passed hands several times and wound up
at the Yale Library, where it was discovered in 1985 by
organist Christoph Wolff. This work, "O Herre Gott,
dein göttlich's Wort" (O Lord God, Thy Holy Word), is
one of the unearthed Neumeister chorale preludes by
Bach. It is a chipper piece that exhibits the influence
of Buxtehude and Pachelbel and thus probably dates to
the earliest years of the time span stated in the
headnote. The work opens with a faster variant of the
chorale theme played in the middle register. This
energetic line then moves to the upper register, where
it is joined by the chorale theme and played more
slowly and grandly in the middle ranges. The theme then
rises and grows brighter, in the second half receiving
a less-contrapuntal and more repetitive -- though still
vital -- accompaniment.
Although originally written for Organ, I created this
Transcription of the Chorale Prelude "O Herre Gott,
dein göttlich's Wort" (O Lord God, Thy Holy Word) BWV
1110 for String Trio (Violin, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION