Born in Eisenach in 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was
educated largely by his eldest brother, after the early
death of his parents. At the age of eighteen he
embarked on his career as a musician, serving first as
a court musician at Weimar, before appointment as
organist at Arnstadt. Four years later he moved to
Mühlhausen as organist and the following year became
organist and chamber musician to Duke Wilhelm Ernst of
Weimar. Securing his release with difficulty, in 1717
he was appointed Kapellme...(+)
Born in Eisenach in 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was
educated largely by his eldest brother, after the early
death of his parents. At the age of eighteen he
embarked on his career as a musician, serving first as
a court musician at Weimar, before appointment as
organist at Arnstadt. Four years later he moved to
Mühlhausen as organist and the following year became
organist and chamber musician to Duke Wilhelm Ernst of
Weimar. Securing his release with difficulty, in 1717
he was appointed Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of
Anhalt-Cöthen and remained at Cöthen until 1723, when
he moved to Leipzig as Cantor at the School of
St.Thomas, with responsibility for the music of the
five principal city churches. Bach was to remain in
Leipzig until his death in 1750.
As a craftsman obliged to fulfil the terms of his
employment, Bach provided music suited to his various
appointments. It was natural that his earlier work as
an organist and something of an expert on the
construction of organs, should result in music for that
instrument. At Cöthen, where the Pietist leanings of
the court made church music unnecessary, he provided a
quantity of instrumental music for the court orchestra
and its players. In Leipzig he began by composing
series of cantatas for the church year, later turning
his attention to instrumental music for the Collegium
musicum of the University, and to the collection and
ordering of his own compositions.
The so-called Kirnberger Collection (BWV 690-713), a
title now generally ignored in recent editions, is a
collection of music by Bach copied by or for his pupil
Johann Philipp Kirnberger. The latter was born in
Saalfeld in 1721 and educated in Coburg and Cotha,
before, in 1739, travelling to Leipzig for lessons in
composition and performance with Bach. After a period
spent in Poland, he returned to Dresden, moving then to
Berlin as a violinist in the Prussian royal service. In
1754 he entered the service of Prince Heinrich of
Prussia and four years later that of Princess Anna
Amalia, remaining in this last position until his death
in Berlin in 1783. Kirnberger had the highest regard
for Bach, and did his utmost to bring about the
posthumous publication of the latter's four-part
chorale settings.
The BWV numbers after Bach's works do not necessarily
reflect a chronological order, since the dates of some
of his compositions are unknown. This chorale prelude,
for instance, belongs to a set of fughettas that cannot
precisely be dated. It is believed they were written
around the time he composed his Chorales (45) of the
Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book), which came during
the years he served as Court organist under the Duke of
Sachsen-Weimar (1708-1717). They were not designed to
be a set, since they come from several different
manuscript sources. All of the fughettas are short --
lasting around a minute apiece -- owing to the fact
that Bach wrote them as a sort of prelude to the
chorale of the same title, to be sung during church
service. "Gottes Sohn ist kommen" (God's Son is Coming)
opens with the lovely chorale theme played in single
notes in the soprano range, after which the left hand
takes up the melody while the right becomes busy with
contrapuntal ideas. Thereafter, both hands engage in an
exchange of thematic and contrapuntal interplay of
great delight. One's only regret is that Bach did not
go on longer than just a minute with this brilliantly
crafted, rather light and joyous piece.
Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created
this Interpretation of the Chorale Prelude (BWV 703)
"Gottes Sohn ist kommen" (God's Son is Coming) for
Flute, Classical Guitar & Cello.
PARTITION