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.
Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched
the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal
technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and
motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms,
forms and textures from abroad, p...(+)
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.
Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched
the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal
technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and
motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms,
forms and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy
and France.
The Six Chorales (BWVs 645-650) of Various Kinds (Sechs
Chorale von verschiedener Art) is a collection of
chorale preludes for organ written by Johann Sebastian
Bach, and published around 1748. They are commonly
nicknamed Schübler Chorales, in reference to the
publisher Johann Georg Schübler. All six of the
preludes are for an organ with two manuals and pedal,
at least five of them transcribed from movements in
Bach's cantatas, mostly chorale cantatas. No source has
been found for BWV 646, and most scholars assume that
the source cantata is one of the 100 or so believed to
have been lost. The fact that Bach had gone to the
trouble and expense of securing the services of a
master engraver to produce a collection of
note-for-note transcriptions of this kind indicates
that he did not regard the Schübler Chorales as a
minor piece of hack-work, but as a significant public
statement. These six chorales provide an approachable
version of the music of the cantatas through the more
marketable medium of keyboard transcriptions.
Bach published his Wer Nur den Lieben Gott, BWV 647,
around 1748 as part of his Six Chorales of Various
Kinds. These six works for organ are based on cantatas.
They provided an approachable version of Bach's
cantatas through the more accesible medium of keyboard
music, and the fact that Bach chose to edit these
(while the rest of his cantatas remained largely
unpublished during his lifetime), says something about
the musical statement that they represented. This
particular prelude is based on the central duet of the
cantata of the same name, BWV 93. Bach had written that
chorale cantata in Leipzig for the fifth Sunday after
Trinity and first performed it in 1724. It is based on
an hymn by Georg Neumark and although originally
written for Organ, I created this arrangement for
String Trio (Violin, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION