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.
This is one of those Bach's chorale preludes not
belonging to a larger set, although it is often
identified with the Kirnberger Collection. After the
composer's death, Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721 --
1783), a nearly lifelong admirer of Bach, began
collecting many of his manuscripts in a library, which
eventually became known as the Kirnberger Collection.
Among those manuscripts was the score to this work, "In
dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr" (In You I have put my
trust, Lord). It is not to be confused with the even
briefer chorale prelude of the same title appearing in
the "Glaubenslieder" section of Bach's masterful
Orgelbüchlein. As many already know, the composer made
numerous versions -- usually quite different ones -- of
various chorale preludes: there are, for example, at
least eight different renditions of Herr Jesu Christ,
dich zu uns wend. In this BWV 712 chorale prelude, Bach
gives the chorale theme a lively, jaunty treatment and,
not surprisingly, supplies spirited contrapuntal
activity, much of the writing actually fugal. About
midway through, the music breaks away from the previous
material and revels in a variant whose descending
pattern exudes joy and playfulness right to the
end.
Source: Allmusic
(http://www.allmusic.com/composition/in-dich-hab-ich-ge
hoffet-herr-chorale-prelude-for-organ-bwv-712-bc-k151-m
c0002374150).
Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created
this Interpretation of the Prelude (BWV 712) "In dich
hab ich gehoffet, Herr" (In You I have put my trust,
Lord) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
