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.
This is another of the Bach chorale preludes unearthed
in 1985 by Christoph Wolff, who discover...(+)
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.
This is another of the Bach chorale preludes unearthed
in 1985 by Christoph Wolff, who discovered the
Neumeister Collection at the Yale Library. Most of the
Neumeister Bach works are believed to date to the years
1700 - 1708, and this one, "Ehre sei dir, Christe, der
du leidest Not" (May You Be Praised, Christ, for You
Suffer Pain), was probably written in the earliest
years of that span. It exhibits the influence of both
Pachelbel and Buxtehude and is somewhat unusual in its
consistent use of what German writers call
Vorimitation: thematic material is anticipated
throughout the work in an imitative, fugue-like manner.
For all its seemingly rigid formal qualities, this work
presents the chorale theme in a majestic and
imaginative way, growing from modest textures at the
outset to grander and more colorful ones later on. As
the work progresses, its mood takes on a more ecstatic
manner, the music a fuller and more complex character.
In the end, this approximately two-minute chorale
prelude will likely strike Baroque enthusiasts as a
compelling even if still youthful work from the pen of
the young Bach.
This chorale prelude is part of the Neumeister
Collection, an assemblage of 82 chorales, 38 of which
have more or less been attributed to Bach, that came
into existence only in 1985 when organist and
musicologist Christoph Wolff unearthed them at the Yale
Library. "Jesu, meines Lebens Leben" (Jesus, My Life's
Life; also translated less literally as Christ, the
Life of all the Living) is a vigorous and bright work
whose joyous manner perfectly captures the spirit of
the chorale's text, as Bach was typically capable of
doing even during this early phase of his career. The
work opens with the cheerful chorale theme
energetically played, Bach weaving much subtle
contrapuntal activity into the musical fabric. He also
imparts a sense of the celestial, as he milks the
glorious character of the theme here and especially in
the latter half when he changes the meter and uses the
technique of vorimitation, where part of the theme is
imitated before it actually appears in the main line.
The latter half, in fact, becomes rather ecstatic in
its lively sense of religious joy.
Although originally written for Organ, I created this
Transcription of the Chorale Prelude "Jesu, meines
Lebens Leben" (Jesus Christ, the Life of all the
Living) BWV 1107 for Pipe Organ (2 Manuals & Pedals).
SHEET MUSIC