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 38 works attributed to Bach in
the Neumeister Collection, an assemblage ...(+)
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 38 works attributed to Bach in
the Neumeister Collection, an assemblage of 82 chorales
by several different composers that was discovered in
1985 by organist Christoph Wolff. Most of the Bach
works in the collection have been dated to the period
1700 - 1708, but precisely why only these 38 chorale
preludes (some say 36, questioning the authorship of a
couple) wound up in the hands of Johann Gottfried
Neumeister, and not any later ones, is not known. This
work, "O Lamm Gottes unschuldig" (O innocent Lamb of
God), is an appropriately subdued and quite lovely
adaptation of the chorale theme. It will appeal to a
wide audience. Bach followed the melody-chorale style
of Buxtehude here, but his effort nevertheless exhibits
his own individual, if still burgeoning, voice. Much of
his writing here is in the upper registers and his
contrapuntal activity is not as strictly drawn from the
thematic material as in most of his other, especially
later, chorale preludes. The melody here is quite
attractive in its demure and graceful manner and in its
soothing, slowly paced sense of assurance.
Although originally written for Organ, I created this
Transcription of the Chorale Prelude "O Lamm Gottes
unschuldig" (O innocent Lamb of God) BWV 1095 for Pipe
Organ (2 Manuals w/Pedals).
PARTITION