Luogo e data di registrazione		- Hamm, Wesfalen (Germania) - luglio 1969 (LP 1) - Ringsted (Danimarca) - agosto 1970 (LP 2)
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Engineer		Michael Bernstein
	Prima Edizione LP		- Valois - MB 855 · Vol. 15 - (1 LP) - durata 39' 41" - (p) 1969 - Analogico - Valois - MB 856 · Vol. 16 - (1 LP) - durata 41' 22" - (p) 1970 - Analogico
	"Das Orgelwerke" LP		Telefunken - BC 25099-T/1-2 - (2 LP's) - durata 39' 41" / 41' 22" - (p) 1970 - Analogico
	Note		-

Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Works * Chorale Arrangements I That Bach’s organ music, and in its wake organ music generally, is regarded as the expression of Protestant Christianity as such is not an inevitable development. It is rather an admittedly beautiful, but later, historical projection: it reveals more about ourselves than about the church of the Reformation period and the time in which Bach lived. For organ music and organists had to struggle for a long time in the Lutheran church for recognition. Looked upon as an originally heathen instrument which distracted the faithful from the service, the organ was threatened with banning. It was not until 1597 that the Wittenberg theological faculty ended the long dispute about the legality of organ music with, as it were, a declaration of non-impediment - and by no means with a special recommendation. The fact that organ music finally asserted itself in the church service was due, initially, not to the grand, concert-type fantasias and toccatas, the preludes and fugues, the so-called “free” organ works which were always regarded only as an ingredient and as external ornamentation: its influence goes back rather to “chorale arrangements”, that is to say, to those compositions which are based on the melody of a hymn or on another part of the liturgy. “Bound” organ music is so called on account of its connection with a predetermined cantus firmus. In Lutheran church services the hymns sung by the congregation were a firm, integral part of the liturgy. They could not be omitted at will, abridged or replaced by others; they had to be sung in their entire verses. However, the congregation, choir and organ could alternate according to verses. Indeed it was even possible for a choral of many verses to be rendered in purely instrumental form. The custom which we are used to today, with the organ having to accompany the congregation’s singing, did not arise until the 17th century. The alternation system was maintained side by side with it for a long time. The non-vocal performance of a choral verse or of an entire chorale applied equally to the sung word and could replace it. This was the great opportunity for the organists. They did not restrict themselves to performing the verses entrusted to them in simple chordal phrases, but devoted all their ability to shaping the choral melody into their own polyphonic work of art with the aid of counterpoint and harmony. In the song variations of the English virginal players and of the great Dutch organ master Sweelingk, as well as in their own vocal music above a cantus firmus, they discovered fresh ideas for this purpose with whida they were able to develop further the old organ playing practice of choral arrangement. Simultaneously with this, organ construction was being perfected. Organs were becoming more richly equipped and -- particularly in Northern Germany - the pedal was being strengthened as regards the stops. It was certainly not used solely as a basic tone, but with its strong and clear 4-foot and 2-foot registers often served in the choral arrangements to represent the choral melody. (The “Schüblerschen” chorales Nos. 2, 3 and 6 included in this album are instructive examples of this type of use of the pedal.) In 1624 the organist Samuel Scheidt of Halle had submitted with the third part of his “Tabulatura nova” a classic work for the various possibilities of choral arrangement. In the second half of the 17th century they were further developed in the North German organists school connected with Buxtehude, and in Southern Germany, particularly by Pachelbel. As a consequence of religious intensification during the pietism period, the composers tried more purposefully than before to express the verbal statement of the individual choral verses in musical phrase, to interpret the choral text by musical means. With his choral arrangements Bach was therefore able to call upon a riduly developed treasure of forms and modes of expression. By far the greater part of his bound organ works was composed in the period from 1703 to 1714, when as organist in Arnstadt, Mühlhausen and Weimar, he himself was responsible for the liturgical organ music. During the period as court musical director in Köthen and in the first years in Leipzig organ composition had to make way for other tasks. It was only later that he turned to the organ again, now quite clearly giving preference to choral bound over free organ music: in 1739 he published a wide-ranging collection of chorale preludes under the title “Clavierübung. Dritter Teil”. In 1746 he published the six “Schüblerschen Choräle”, and a year later the “Canonic Variations on ‘Vorn Himmel hoch, da komm ich her”’. In addition he started an autograph collection of particularly brilliant dmoral arrangements which are known as the “Eighteen Chorales”. At least the later works were probably not composed exclusively for church services, but also for concert-type performance. Bach was the most famous organ player of his time and in this capacity enjoyed a greater reputation among his contemporaries than as a composer. He constantly gave extremely successful public organ recitals. On these occasions in addition to free organ compositions he improvised on hymns. A series of works which have come down to us to the present day probably originate from such improvisations which Bach subsequently worked out in detail and recorded in writing. But regardless of whether a choral arrangement was composed for liturgical or non-liturgical use: just as with the set melody, the text of the choral also binds the composer and channels his powers of invention into a certain direction. Bach, like none of  his predecessors, elucidated and gave a stronger meaning to the verbal statement of the choral. Thus if one is to understand his compositions it is also necessary to know the choral texts. In this connection one has to bear in mind that verse songs are involved. The one melody and the single arranged polyphonic theme must not be suitable for only the first or for a certain verse, but for all verses of the hymn. The composer will thus be less inclined to depict the individual phrase in music, but will rather try to impart the content of the whole. Where, as is frequently the case with hymns, various choral texts are sung to the same melody, the theme had from the outset to be kept in a neutral vein. It is then part of the organist’s art, by appropriate registration and lively performance, to adapt the music text to the corresponding purpose. Where he played to written music his task was also of a creative nature, and this element of improvisation in art music has been retained to the present time only in the case or organists. The present album contains, in addition to the famous “Canonical Variations on ‘Vom Himmel hoch, da komm idx her”’ and the six “Schüblerschen Choräle”, numerous choral arrangements from Bach’s early period: works which he had evidently not incorporated in larger collections and whidm therefore have been handed down in the most varied autographs. In the present recording they are provisionally collated according to liturgical points of view. On the first record the canonical variations on “Vom Himmel hoch” are followed by three further arrangements of this Christmas song as well as other chorals of the advent and Christmas season. Following the “Schüblerschen Choräle", which belong to the various liturgical rules, the second record features a fugue to the magnificat, three arrangements of the gloria “Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr” and two hymns of supplication and consolation and, together with the two themes on “Christ lag in Todesbanden”, leads into the Easter period. The term “choral arrangement” is a modern collective expression for the numerous and stylistically clearly differentiated arranging techniques which have evolved in the course of history. Contemporaries usually had more precise descriptions for them: chorale parts, chorale fantasies, chorale fugues and fughettas organ chorales, chorale preludes and many other terms. We are therefore summarising the numerous individual chorale preludes in the present album in accordance with formal criteria of this kind. 1. Chordal styles accompanying the congregation’s singing. When it became the custom to accompany the congregation’s singing on the organ, organists acquired the habit of separating the individual choral lines from eadi other by means of shorter or longer “tirades”, virtuoso passages on the particular concluding pauses-a practice which in the following period was rigorously opposed as being a distortion of church choral singing. There are six pieces of this type by Bach, of which our album contains five: BWV 738 Vom Himmel hoch; BWV 722 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ; BWV 729 In dulci jubilo; BWV 732 Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich; BWV 715 Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’. These are evidently youthful experimental works, since Bach did not return to their style in later years. Because of their unusual harmonic connections and the often abrupt transition of the “tirades” to the subsequent choral line, it is difficult to imagine these settings as an accompaniment to the vocal efforts of the congregation, and they already proved a source of trouble to contemporaries. In 1706 the Arnstadt consistory charged that Bach was producing in the choral “many strange variations, mixing many alien tones (keys) so that the congregation had become confused by this...”. Two versions of most of these chorales have come down to us: one of a sketchz type and one set out in detail. In the present recording the sketched version is first played, then an inserted choral verse in simple harmonisation, followed by the detailed second version. 2. Chorale fughettas and chorale fugues Chorale fughettas resulted from the task of the organist to indicate the key and melody of the congregation’s hymn by means of a short prelude. Eminently suitable for this purpose was a short fugue-type piece above the first line of the choral melody. Bach’s seven chorale fughettas-all of which are contained in this album-presumably originate from the early Weimar period. From a technical point of view they are modest and intended to be performed “manualiter”, i. e., playing with the hands only. They belong in the main to the advent and Christmas period, so that perhaps they were conceived as the beginning of a collection of preludes throughout the entire church year, but not subsequently maintained. The pieces are: BWV 701 Vom Himmel hoch; BWV 699 Nun komm’, der Heiden Heiland; BWV 703 Gottes Sohn ist kommen; BWV 698 Herr Christ, der ein’ge Gottes-Sohn; BWV 704 Lob sei dem allmächt’gen Gott; BWV 697 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ; BWV 696 Christentum wir sollen loben schon - Was fürcht’st du, Feind Herodes, sehr. Whereas the chorale fughettas are content with imitations of the first choral line, in the chorale fugues the entire choral lines are performed in fugue style one after the other. Among the few works of this kind is the fugue on the magnificat (BWV 733), which forms an especially convincing example. 3. The chorale fantasia is based on the principle of arranging all of the choral lines in sequence, in separately compact, often strongly contrasting sections, on the pattern of the wellknown multi-part instrumental fantasia. In the only two bound organ works by Bach in this form-the fantasia super “Jesu, meine Freude” (BWV 713) and the fantasia super “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (BWV 718) - the treatment of the choral lines peculiar to the fantasia is particularly conspicuous. In the first piece the entire second part of the chorale is dealt with only freely in a section contrasting both as regards movement and expression - dolce 3/8 time. A simple chordal realisation of the complete choral melody forms the conclusion. In the second piece a long echo passage between the swell-organ and chair-organ develops from the shortened sixth choral line, preparing the way for the highly effective finish. 4. The large organ chorales In most of Bach’s choral arrangements the overall choral melody is clearly recognizably brought out in at least one voice. According to whether the individual choral lines succeed each other without interludes or are separated from one another by preludes or interludes, one refers to “small” or “large” organ chorales. The present album does not contain any examples of the small organ chorales without fugal episodes as are found particularly in Bach’s “Orgelbüchlein”. On the other hand it contains all the more “large” organ chorales: these include all the works not yet named and the canonic variations on “Vom Himmel hoch” and the “Schüblersohen Choräle”. With regard to the single isolated pieces, however, they are mostly youthful works by means of which he became acquainted with the various possibilities of choral arrangements: The chorale cantus firmus could appear in a simple melodic version (as in the most cases) or be fully ornamented (e. g., BWV 712 In dich habe ich gehoffet, Herr). The themes of the counterpointed voices could be taken from the choral or be freely developed (e. g., BWV 694 Wo soll ich fliehen hin). The most simple form of interlude construction, already customary with Scheidt, was what was known as the “pre-imitation”: each choral line is introduced by a short fughetta-type imitation of the cantus firmus, frequently in shortened note values (BWV 700 Vom Himmel hoch; BWV 724 Gottes Sohn ist kommen; BWV 717 Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’; BWV 712 In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr). The trio “Wir Christenleut” (BWV 710) has also been passed on under the name of Johann Ludwig Krebs and probably originates from him; Bach described him as his best pupil. The masterpieces of the great organ chorales are only found in the manuscript and printed collections of the later Leipzig years. During this period Bach was increasingly concerned with taking the expressive force of the music away from the immediate elucidating media of harmony und rhythm and incorporating it in contrapuntal techniques as such. Complicated fugues and canons become the cloak of his last musical interpretations. The most important organ work of this kind is represented by the canonic variations of the Christmas carol “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her". It is closely related in time to the “Musikalisches Opfer” (Musical Offering) and the “Art of the Fugue” and is one of the few compositions which Bach had printed: in 1747 he submitted it when entering the Mizler “Societät der Musicalischen Wissenschaften” - a scholarly musical society devoted to the scientific appreciation of music as a mathematical discipline in the old sense. The work is related to such conceptions.. In the first to the fourth variation the carol melody is counterpointed with two canonically carried voices related to each other and extending across the octave, the quint, the seventh and again the octave. In the third and fourth variation a further, noncanonic voice is added. The fourth is an augmentation canon: one voice follows the other in double note value. Finally in the fifth variation the melody is counterpointed with its inversion, in fourfold manner: in the canon of the sixth, the third, the second and the nineth. At the end, and forming the climax, all four choral lines are superimposed in short note values above the organ pedal point C. Works of a quite different style, but not less artistic, are the six chorales which Bach published in 1746 with Joh. Georg Schübler’s publishing house, Zella, in the Thuringia Forest. These are not original compositions, but transcriptions of earlier cantata themes for the organ. We know the origins of five of them, and they are missing only as regards the second piece. One cannot refer to them even as arrangements, that is to say, as genuine transpositions; for Bach used the movements, without changing the key, practically note for note in the new edition. Nevertheless, if one did not know the original pattern, hardly anybody could detect the fact of the arrangement from the works themselves: an indication that during Bach’s time the corresponding movement forms-in this case the trio and quartet movement - and, with all due regard to the peculiarity and tonal range of the instruments in question, were in principle capable of transcription. The six settings emanate from cantatas out of the "Choralkantaten-Jahrgangs” composed 1724/25 and subsequent supplements to it. The first piece “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” (BWV 645) is the second movement of the cantata 140 of the same name. The third (BWV 647) is in cantata 93 “Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten”, namely as a duet to the verse “Er kennt die rechten Freudenstunden”. The fourth (BWV 648) also originally a vocal duet, comes from cantata 10 “Meine Seele erhebet den Herren”. It is used there for the verse “Er denket der Barmherzigkeit”. The fifth piece “Ach bleib’ bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ” (BWV 649) originates from the Easter cantata “Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden” (canata 6). The last one (BWV 650) belonged to the text “Lobe den Herren, der alles so herrlich regieret” in cantata 137 “Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren". It is not clear why Bach assigns the organ version to the less known advent song “Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter”. The six pieces at the same time demonstrate various movement possibilities: trio movement with three thematic independent voices in Nos. 1 and 6; with two imitating voices in No. 2; with three independent voices, developed however from the cantus firmus, in No. 5. A quartet movement with two imitating voices in No. 3, and with three imitating voices in No. 4. The fact that the settings in the cantatas in some cases apply to other text verses shows that the immediate linking of the musical movement to the text is only one partial aspect, but not the main principle of this music. In the cantata setting, on which the first piece is based, the contrapuntal discant voice is played by the violins and viola in unison. It illustrates to begin with the appropriate text “Zion hört den Wächter singen” - a joyfully restrained, mystic wedding song. In the organ version the movement is likely to be associated, and more strongly registered, with the first verse “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” - an example of the organist’s possibilities of giving prominence to the diverse character of the individual hymn verses. by Georg von Dadelsen English translation by Frederick A. Bishop * This critical and complete stylistic survey of Bach’s organ works is the second part of an essay the first par: of whidi appeared in the first edition of the "Organ Works". It is followed by the above article and will be continued by further releases of Bach’s "Organ Works".
Johann Sebastian Bach - DAS ORGELWERK