As organist at Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach was
charged with providing a harmonic underpinning for the
singing of Lutheran chorale tunes chosen for each day.
Bach wrote out many of these harmonizations, in part as
instruction for younger composers (they are still used
for this purpose). A derivation of this practice,
Bach's conception of the organ chorale, as manifested
in the chorale preludes, dates from 1713 -1714, about
the time he became familiar with Vivaldi's
concertos.
In all hi...(+)
As organist at Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach was
charged with providing a harmonic underpinning for the
singing of Lutheran chorale tunes chosen for each day.
Bach wrote out many of these harmonizations, in part as
instruction for younger composers (they are still used
for this purpose). A derivation of this practice,
Bach's conception of the organ chorale, as manifested
in the chorale preludes, dates from 1713 -1714, about
the time he became familiar with Vivaldi's
concertos.
In all his chorale arrangements, Bach took inspiration
for the style and atmosphere from the words of the hymn
on which his composition was based. But the main role
in his chorale partitas seems to be given to pure
pleasure in playing and inventiveness. For his
variations on ‘Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig’, he
literally pulls out all the stops. For over twenty
minutes, he explores the harmonic, rhythmic and
stylistic possibilities of the melody forming the base
of the piece. The art of variation was already
considered old-fashioned in Bach’s day. But Georg
Böhm, the organ virtuoso with whom the
fifteen-year-old Bach became acquainted during his
schooldays in Lüneburg, was a master of variation.
Through Böhm, Bach also came into contact with
Reincken, and through him with Buxtehude, who were both
composers with a flair for the art of variation. There
was much that Bach could learn from these masters, but
the challenge of variation must have held particular
appeal for the young composer. It was not just
conceiving of the most varied and sophisticated series
possible, but also the virtuoso interpretation of that
series that provided the opportunity of rivalling his
idols.
The chorale partita (BWV 766-770) is a special form of
chorale arrangement, as the chorale (or hymn) serves as
the starting point for a series of variations. The art
of variation was at its peak in the seventeenth
century. Usually, a folk song was taken as the starting
point for a series of variations that increased in
difficulty and speed. The genre was not restricted to
keyboard instruments. The blind Dutch recorder and
carillon player Jacob van Eyck was also a master in the
art, for example. The five compositions by Bach bearing
the name of chorale partita do not come from a single
source, nor are they dated, but it is supposed that
they originated in his teens and may have been revised
later on.
This chorale partita, an imposing set of variations, is
probably one of Bach's earliest major organ works. It's
thought to date from Bach's late teens, when he was
influenced by the partitas of Georg Böhm, organist at
the Johanniskirche in Lünegurg, where he was studying;
Buxtehude is another likely inspiration. Of course,
Bach may have touched up the score later, when he could
benefit from a few more years of experience. Bach based
the partita on the Lutheran chorale or hymn O Gott, du
frommer Gott (Oh God, Thou Just God) and provides a
variation for each of the hymn's eight verses. Some
have suggested that Bach intended each variation to be
played immediately before or after a congregation sang
the corresponding verse, although this was not a common
practice. Bach may simply have been trying to master
variation techniques in a score never intended for
liturgical use. Indeed, because this work does not
require an organ with pedals, Bach may have intended it
for domestic playing on harpsichord or clavichord, or
whatever modest organ may have been available. Bach
establishes the hymn tune (a variant of the standard
version) with block chords. The first variation
introduces an obsessive bass ostinato that precedes
each elegantly ornamented period of the chorale. The
second variation finds a small, rhythmic motif darting
from level to level of the three-voice polyphony. The
third variation is a toccata, with the melody vibrating
in sixteenth notes. The little rhythmic element from
the second variation reappears in the fourth, now
expanded into scale passages. The unornamented melody
reasserts itself in the right hand in the fifth
variation, over a syncopated accompaniment. Next, the
scales from the previous variation return as the basic
material of a new ternary variation in courante form.
The partita reaches its expressive high point in the
chromatic seventh variation, an ascending and
descending tetrachord providing the countersubject for
four-voice polyphony. The large, last variation breaks
into three parts: an energetic echo-effect section in
which the first portion of the hymn becomes a fanfare,
a quiet andante, and then a joyous, presto finale.
Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created
this Interpretation of the Chorale Partita (BWV 767) "O
Gott, du frommer Gott" (Oh God, Thou Just God) for
String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
PARTITION