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.
As most Bach enthusiasts are aware, the composer wrote
many works based on the chorale "Allein Gott in der
Höh sei Ehr," including a number of chorale preludes,
such as the three from the German Organ Mass (BWV 675,
676, and 677), as well as those many early efforts,
including BWV 711 and 715, to cite just two. This one
is perhaps his most colorful version, one that actually
exhibits a certain flamboyance in its keyboard writing.
The work opens with the chorale theme gloriously
rendered in big, stately chords. Bach punctuates the
end of each phrase here with a scampering, rather
florid run. The effect provides contrast, to be sure,
as well as color, though some may hear it as a
prescient Bach auguring the more virtuosic side of
Liszt. In the end, though, this cannot be judged as
flashy music, but rather as deftly imagined writing
whose juxtaposing of seemingly opposite elements amid
the composer's usual brilliant contrapuntal activity
yields a quite worthwhile, if minor masterwork.
Source: Allmusic
(http://www.allmusic.com/composition/allein-gott-in-der
-h%C3%B6h-sei-ehr-viii-chorale-prelude-for-organ-bwv-71
5-bc-k128-mc0002403212).
Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created
this Interpretation of the Prelude (BWV 711) "Vom
Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" (From Heaven Above to
Earth I Come) for Oboe & Cello.
PARTITION