Johann Sebastian Bach. Choralvorspiele Fur Orgel BWV 639 & 721

” Appearing in the 16th century in the context of the German Protestant Reformation, the Chorale permeates and is central to Johann Sebastian Bach’s work especially his music for organ and the liturgical vocal works with the exception of the masses. The two chorales presented in this collection belong to the genre of the Choralenspiele or Chorale Preludes which from the second-half of the 17th century onwards became an independent musical genre in which the chorale, presented in the soprano, stands out clearly within the polyphonic texture . Its purpose was to prelude the congregational singing by introducing a hymnal theme and then transforming it in order to facilitate its musical commentary.

The musicologist Gilles Cantagrel once remarked on it being vital to « never forget that as soon as a Lutheran, made daily familiar with the hymnal repertoire since his earliest childhood, hears the melody of a chorale, he automatically associates it with the text which he knows by heart »¹. It has often been said that Bach, a man of faith and a musician of the Church for nearly all his life, gave particular importance to abiding by the hymnal texts and envisioned his chorales for organ as musical sermons. Bach’s tone-painting associates the ideas and images contained in the text with meaningful and striking musical and acoustic motives, and is of a richness that commands immediate effect.

Deeming it to be essential, we have included the original hymnal text and its associated melody (as presented by Johannes Zahn in Die Melodien der Deutsche evangelischen Kirchenlieder), as well as their appearances within Bach’s work.”