“Dem Höchsten Gott allein zu ehren, dem nächsten draus sich zu belehren“: “To the glory of God on high, and to instruct men thereby”. So wrote Johann Sebastian Bach at the beginning of this collection, which was actually conceived as a much more extensive project. Later the composer decided (probably deliberately) to stop after just 45 out of the 164 Chorale Preludes he had planned for his “little organ book” on whose pages he had already written all the Chorale titles following the order of the Church year. Incidentally, 45 corresponds to the number of the Old Testament books, whilst 27 – the number of pieces collected in the Third Part of the Klavier Übung – corresponds to the books of the New Testament. In the initial dedication, Bach’s programme already appears: in every piece, a theological commentary to the Chorales’ lyrics is found, as well as an extraordinary knowledge displayed in the varied ways in which the cantus firmus is elaborated. However, Bach speaks to us also per speculum et in aenigmate, and he delegates to the performer the analysis of the content which is expressed (or hidden) in the form of symbols, numbers, and self-citations.
It is worthwhile to analyze some pieces in the collection, chosen among those which can best exemplify the marvellous architectural skill which never diminishes the pure beauty of music. The first piece in the collection, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 599 (Come, o Saviour of the Gentiles) opens with a “figured” arpeggio, which lets us foretell which figuration will recur most. It is a quadruplet of sixteenth-notes, added by Bach after having already written the second note of the Chorale’s tune (it consists in the rhythmicized and Germanized version of the Gregorian Veni redemptor gentium). It is the figure of the cross: if one unites the first to the third note, and the second to the fourth, one obtains the Greek letter χ, cross-shaped and constituting the initial of Christ’s name. This figuration appears 14 times throughout the piece; if one assigns values to the alphabet’s letters, 14 results from the sum of B (2), A (1), C (3) and H (8). The presence of such a “cross” in an Advent Chorale prefigures the death Christ will undergo; the presence of the composer’s name hidden in it may express, perhaps, the fact that Christ comes for every human being, individually.
Also in the second piece, Gott, durch deine Güte (or Gottes Sohn ist kommen) BWV 600 (God, through your goodness or God’s Son has come) we can find interesting stimuli for reflection. This is one of the few pieces by Bach which have indications for registration. For the manuals there is the Principal 8 Fuss, whilst for the Pedal the Trompete 8 Fuss is indicated. The Chorale displays a canon at the octave between Soprano and Tenor (the latter part is played by the Pedal), illustrating how Christ came to take us with him. Moreover, one should observe that, when Bach entrusts a cantus firmus to the Tenor, he nearly always does so because, in the lyrics, Christ is mentioned as a mediator between God and humankind (the voice of Tenor is found between Bass and Alto). At b. 16, some editions add a natural sign on the first B in the Alto part, whilst actually it is a B-flat in the autograph. If one leaves that note as it is precisely at that point, the notes forming the German notation B (B-flat), A, C, H (B natural) are found.
Among the Christmastide Chorales the most complex is In dulci jubilo BWV 608 in A major, a key frequently linked to Christmas. Within the piece, a canon develops both between Soprano and Tenor and between Alto and Bass. The presence of duplets against triplets raised contrasting opinions regarding the performance of the former: should they be played as they are written or should they be regularized on the basis of the triplets? The answer may be found by considering the piece’s symbology. The piece numbers 37 bars. This number results from the letters composing Christ’s monogram ICHR (also in the B-minor Fugue BWV 544, at b. 37, one can find both a modulation to A major and a change in the expressive style, introduced by a quotation from a Christmas Chorale!). Moreover, one could point out that A major is frequently connected with the compresence of two and three: The Fugue from the Prelude and Fugue in A major BWV 536 has a rhythmical structure which can be interpreted both in two and in three, and in the Fugue in A major BWV 864 from Book One of the Well-Tempred Clavier there is an alternation of accents every three quavers (it is in 12/8) and every two (a kind of hemiola). Therefore, two above three might express the presence, in the same person, of the divine element (three, the perfection) and of the human one (two, the imperfection, the difference).
A splendid contrasting diptych is represented by the Chorale Preludes for the closing of a year and for the beginning of a new one. Das alte Jahr vergangen ist BWV 614 (The Old year has gone) expresses the load of suffering, grief and worries of the closing year; this explains why the accompaniment to the tune, adorned in an extremely expressive and melancholic fashion, is made of the chromatic tetrachord, in turn derived from a fragment of four diatonic notes from the Chorale tune. The piece is constituted by 12 bars, just as the months of the year; and similar to each month, also in every bar a grief is present (a chromaticism, a particularly intense chord, a figuration with a penetrating expressivity). In dir ist Freude BWV 615 (In Thee is joy) is instead a burst of sincere happiness for the newborn year. The fashion in which the Chorale tune is treated in this piece is very free. The first four notes of the Chorale are heard 14 times, repeatedly proposed by each one of the four voices, similar to a joyful pealing of bells, before the entrance of the second fragment of the cantus firmus. The Pedal reinforces the feeling of great joy, presenting a typical figuration with an ostinato character; the figure coming after a just-happened statement marks the fourteenth entrance. The first twelve bars do not contain added alterations with respect to those in the key signature: this expresses the wish that the twelve months which have just begun will bring no pain or suffering.
Approximately halfway through the collection shines the majestic beauty of the Passion Chorale O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß BWV 622 (O Man, bewail thy sin so great). The preceding Chorale ended on a chord of E major; possibly with the intention of hinting at a bow before mystery, Bach chose the key of E-flat for this Chorale Prelude. It is the most important piece in the entire collection, both for its length and for its expressive profundity. The Chorale’s lyrics, by Sebal Heyden, consist in a narrative of Christ’s life; the music frequently follows their meaning, with an expressivity which cannot be commented in words. Bach wrote, at the piece’s beginning, Adagio assai; at the end, however, in correspondence of an unheard-of modulation, he prescribes Adagissimo, perhaps to point out the eternal value of the word “lengthily” (on the cross).
It is a feeling of serenity, instead, the one which pervades Alle Menschen müßen sterben BWV 643 (All Men must die), in which the cross-figuration is the leitmotiv, almost wishing for the natural acceptance of the ultimate doom of our life on earth. The cross-figuration appears in the Pedal part 29 times: J+S+B.
The collection closes with an aphoristic reflection on the vanity of human affairs. The emptiness of the octave leaps in the Pedal part of Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig BWV 644 (O, how empty, o, how fleeting) may perhaps mirror the idea of uselessness, whilst the flowing sixteenth-note-scales portray the idea of fleetingness, together with the last chord which seems almost to disappear into nothingness. In the German lyrics of this Chorale a fascinating allegory is found: human life (Leben) is likened to fog (Nebel, its palindrome), vanishing just as happens to music at the end of this extraordinary collection.
Liner notes © Enrico Viccardi
Translation: Chiara Bertoglio