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Contents:
DDD Recorded: Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, 13-15 February 2001 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): The Third Part of the Clavierübung Third Part of the Keyboard Practice consisting of various Preludes on the Catechism and other Hymns for the Organ. Prepared for Music Lovers and particularly for Connoisseurs of such Work, towards the Recreation of the Spirit, By Johann Sebastian Bach, Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Court Composer, Capellmeister and Director of the chori musici, Leipzig. Published by the Author [Michaelmas, 1739]. Historical reports indicate that J. S. Bach was a brilliant organ performer and an improviser of extraordinary quality. His name is, of course, synonymous with the greatest organ music ever written, and therefore it is curious that his first published organ music, Clavierübung III, did not appear until 1739, when the composer was 54, only eleven years before his death. The volume was the third in a series of four monumental cycles, each being a kind of encyclopaedia of compositional models. The Six Partitas for harpsichord were published as Clavierübung Part 1 in 1731, followed by Part 2, the Italian Concerto and French Overture, in 1735. Part 4, the ‘Goldberg’ Variations, appeared in 1742, but in Part 3 Bach composed a set of organ pieces based on the fundamental components of the Lutheran liturgy, the music of which is suffused with religious, musical and numerical symbolism, the depth of which remains less than fully understood even today. In 1739 there were three great Reformation festivals in Leipzig. The plan of the cycle shows the extent to which Bach composed a Lutheran musical liturgy, in which the Kyrie group and all the Catechism chorales are set twice. The ‘greater’ settings are for organ with pedals and were probably intended for the Lutheran Sunday morning Hauptgottesdienst, while the ‘lesser’ settings - shorter and written for manuals only - were probably intended for the Sunday afternoon Vespergottesdienst. On this recording these ‘lesser’ settings are played on the Positive Organ, which, by virtue of its position below and more forward than the Great Organ (and therefore nearer to the congregation) sound more intimate. BWV Morning Prayer: 552/1 Prelude in E flat major pro organ pleno Luther’s Missa brevis: Kyrie - Christe - Kyrie 669 Kyrie, Gott Vater 670 Christe, aller Welt Trost 671 Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist
672 Kyrie, Gott Vater (manualiter) 673 Christe, aller Welt Trost (manualiter) 674 Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist (manualiter) Gloria in excelsis 675 Allein Gott in der Höh’ 676 Allein Gott in der Höh’ 677 Allein Gott in der Höh’ Luther’s Catechism: Ten Commandments 678 Dies sind die heilgen zehen Gebot 679 Dies sind die heilgen zehen Gebot (manualiter) Creed 680 Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott 681 Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott (manualiter)
Lord’s Prayer 682 Vater unser im Himmelreich 683 Vater unser im Himmelreich (manualiter)
Baptism 684 Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam 685 Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam (manualiter)
Penitence 686 Aus tiefer Not schrei’ ich zu dir 687 Aus tiefer Not schrei’ ich zu dir (manualiter)
Communion 688 Jesus Christus, unser Heiland 689 Jesus Christus, unser Heiland (manualiter)
Luther’s four teaching precepts: 802 Duetto I 803 Duetto II 804 Duetto III 805 Duetto IV Evening Prayer: 552/2 Fugue in E flat major pro organo pleno The association with the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity is undeniable. In all, there are 27 pieces (3 x 3 x 3). There are 9 chorale preludes (3 x 3) based on the Lutheran Missa brevis, which retains only the Kyrie and Gloria from the Latin Mass, whilst the Gloria (Allein Gott) is set 3 times as organ trios (3 parts) in the keys of F, G and A - which encompasses the musical interval of a major 3rd. The magnificent Prelude in E flat (key signature: 3 flats) is unique. Constructed from 3 themes it begins with French dotted rhythms, succeeded by an Italian arioso and a German fugal section, all welded into an Italian ritornello structure. This prelude is thought to represent Luther’s Morning Blessing: In the morning, when you get up, you are to bless yourself with the Holy Cross and say: In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen. The basis of the 3 ‘greater’ Kyries (CD 1, Tracks 2-4) is the Kyrie trope Fons bonitatis, and each clause is addressed to one of the three persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Symbolically composed in stile antico style, the cantus firmus appears successively in the soprano, the tenor and the bass, the last Kyrie (cum Organo Pleno) being one of the most splendid pieces of five-part counterpoint Bach ever wrote. Symbolism of a different kind occurs in the ‘greater’ chorale prelude on the Ten Commandments Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot (CD 1, Track11). The melody is treated in a canon for two voices symbolising the law, whereas in the ‘lesser’ prelude (Track 12), one of Bach’s most light-hearted fughettas, there are 10 entries of the subject - one for each of the Commandments. The two settings of Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott (CD 1, Tracks 13 and 14) form the central pair of the volume. The ‘greater’ setting has Italian connections: a trio sonata texture with an added ostinato bass, written in a 2/4 time signature with the subject in syncopation. What must have been deliberate is the juxtaposition of an Italian style with the French Overture style of the ‘lesser’ setting, plausibly to reflect the inclusive and ecumenical nature of the Creed, “We all believe.” Furthermore, the position of the French overture, which begins the second half of the publication, is consistent with similar positioning of French overtures in Parts I , II and IV of the Clavierübung. To stress the French character, I have recorded this ‘lesser’ setting on the Positive Grand jeu (Cromorne + Jeu de Tierce). French style, too, is evident in the ‘greater’ Vater unser setting (CD 1, Track 15), where Bach has notated French Lombardic rhythms (short-long notes inégales) in a five-part contrapuntal texture, perhaps as a salute to Nicolas de Grigny whose Livre d’orgue he had previously copied in its entirety. To reinforce this French style I have registered the piece in the manner of Grigny’s five-part fugues: R.H. Cornet, L.H. Cromorne, Pedal 8’ Flute. Pictorial symbolism may well lay behind the left-hand semiquaver sequences in the ‘greater’ Baptismal chorale Christ, unser herr, zum Jordan kam (CD 1, Track 17). The melody (in the pedal) appears immersed in the waves of the River Jordan, whilst the leaping right-hand motifs are thought to represent signs of the Cross. In terms of complexity, artifice and expressive power, the ‘greater’ Aus tiefer Not’ (CD 2, Track 1) is unique in Bach’s organ works (the six-part Ricercar from the Musical Offering is its harpsichord equivalent). Set for double pedal, it represents the grand climax of the organ motet. Each phrase of the chorale is treated contrapuntally in stile antico style with double pedal, the right foot playing the melody in doubled note-values. The two Communion settings Jesus Christus unser Heiland (CD 2, Tracks 3 and 4) represent another instance of Bach’s genius in creating two completely opposing styles. The brilliant trio sonata texture of the ‘greater’ setting (full of contrapuntal felicities such as inversion, mirror image and syncopation) contrasts with a quiet ‘lesser’ setting that exploits imitation and stretto in a fugue of the deepest intensity. It has been suggested recently that the four Duetti (CD 2, Tracks 5-8), examples of the strictest two-part counterpoint that Bach ever composed, represented the four teaching precepts of Luther’s Short Catechism (1529), the two voices being symbols of the teacher-pupil relationship. Furthermore, the contrapuntal devices (imitation, canon and fugue) are symbolic of one person ‘teaching’ the subject to the child. If so, then these four duets are an integral part of Bach’s conceptual plan, dispelling doubts about their inclusion on grounds of relevance. The final Fuga a 5 con pedale pro Organo Pleno (CD 2, Track 9) represents Luther’s Evening Blessing, and its three sections again symbolise the Holy Trinity. Moreover, the number of subject entries throughout the 3 sections comes (again) to 27. Beginning in majestic stile antico style, the time signatures of the 3 sections (C, 6/4, 12/8) are proportional and tempi may well be directly related. The manner in which the initial subject is rhythmically altered in the second and third sections to fit with the two new subjects is unique, producing a degree of rhythmic complexity that is unparalleled. Partita diverse sopra Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig (BWV 768) Among Bach’s sets of chorale variations, Sei gegrüsset is the most refined in its writing and expression. The style owes much to the influence of Georg Böhm (1661-1733), organist of the Johanniskirche in Lüneburg when Bach was a choirboy at the Michaeliskirche. The text is appropriate to Passiontide:
Hail to thee, kind Jesus, Beyond all gentle measure, Oh! how you are dashed in pieces, Your whole body torn to bits! (R) Let me inherit your love and die happy in it. Bach’s remarkable variety of invention shows itself in the eleven variations that follow the initial four-part setting of the chorale. The first six variations are for manuals only, and the addition of the pedals in the last five has been interpreted as the result of later revision and expansion of an early work. The final variation is a five-part harmonisation in Organo pleno, in which both harmony and texture create a truly magnificent rendering of this wonderful Passiontide chorale. David Ponsford Page revised Wednesday February 21 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
