A Musical Offering: A Birthday Celebration of the Music of Johann Sebastian Bach Church of the Holy Comforter 222 Kenilworth Avenue Kenilworth, Illinois Sunday, March 21, 2021 4:00 p.m. Derek E. Nickels, organist Page 2 -PROGRAM- Praeludium pro Organo pleno, BWV 552, i While Bach wrote prolifically for the organ, only a few organ pieces were ever published during his lifetime. In the fall of 1739, Bach pub- lished his Clavier-Übung III, a collection of 21 chorale preludes and four duets that are framed on both ends by the monumental Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552. This collection is sometimes referred to as the “German Organ Mass” since these chorale preludes are based on Ger- man hymn equivalents of the Kyrie and Gloria followed by chorales from Martin Luther’s Catechism: the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Atonement, and Communion. The Prelude in E-flat is one of the longest that Bach wrote and combines older com- positional styles of the Baroque period with newer styles of the early Classical period. The opening page of Bach’s manuscript to this piece can be found on the front cover of today’s program. Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, BWV 709 This highly ornamented chorale prelude on the Communion hymn “Lord Jesus Christ, turn to us” is extracted from a collection of 24 cho- rale preludes formerly known as the “Kirnberger Collection” named af- ter Bach’s pupil Johann Philipp Kirnberger, who was responsible for compiling this collection. Unlike the Clavier-Übung III which has a clear liturgical order and stylistic cohesion, the only unifying element of this collection is that these chorale preludes were written sometime before 1710 and show a great deal of influence from North German composers Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) and Georg Böhm (1661-1733). Page 3 Fugue in C minor, BWV 575 Bach’s youthful bravura is evident in this early work that was probably written when Bach was around 20 years old. The active fugue subject is stylistically similar to some of the canzonettas of Dieterich Buxtehude. This fugue concludes with a surprise entrance of the pedal for the last twelve measures in a dramatic manner reminiscent of a North German toccata. Aria: Bist du bei mir, BWV 508 “If Thou be near, I go rejoicing to peace and rest beyond the skies. Not need I fear what may befall me for I will hear Thy sweet voice call me, Thy gentle hands will close my eyes.” Alex Salas, soprano After the death of his first wife Maria Barbara in 1720, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken in 1721. She was a young professional singer who was born into a musical family and continued her professional singing career after her marriage to Johann Sebastian. Bach dedicated numerous compositions to her that are found in two collections of the Anna-Magdalena Bach Book dated 1722 and 1725. Most of the composi- tions found in the collection are works for keyboard, but several songs and arias are also in the collection. Perhaps the most famous piece from the second collection of 1725 is Bist du bei mir, an arrangement of an aria from the opera Diomedes by one of Bach’s esteemed contemporaries, Gottfried Heinrich Stötzel (1690-1749). Page 4 Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043 Vivace Largo ma non tanto Allegro Betty Lewis and Paul Zafer, violins Elizabeth Anderson, cello This concerto has become a favorite among music lovers and admirers of Bach for its sheer beauty and artistry. A copy of this work in Bach’s own handwriting survives indicating he must have thought highly of the work. Written perhaps during Bach’s tenure in Köthen, this concerto may have been reworked later in Leipzig. Modeled after some of the concertos written by Vivaldi and other Italian composers, the vibrant first movement has the two violin parts playing fugally. The second movement is a beautiful siciliano with two violin parts above a simple chordal accompaniment. The last movement is an action-packed tour de force with all parts getting equal importance. Bach later reworked and transposed this concerto as the Concerto in C minor for Two Harpsichords, BWV 1062. Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, BWV 658 This chorale prelude is found in an collection known as “The Eighteen” that Bach was preparing for publication during the last decade of his life. Most of these chorale preludes had been composed earlier during his time at Weimar. In this chorale prelude, the melody of the popular hymn for home devotions “From God shall not divide me” appears in the pedal. Page 5 Agnus Dei (Mass in B minor, BWV 232) “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” Bekah Daly, alto Betty Lewis and Paul Zafer, violins Elizabeth Anderson, cello Bach completed assimilating his monumental Mass in B minor in 1749. A few of the 27 movements were newly composed, but most were re- worked from previously composed cantata movements. Upon the death of Augustus II, the King of Poland in 1733, Bach presented the Kyrie and Gloria movements to August III with the hopes of being named court composer. Bach’s wish was granted in 1736 and in the last years of his life, he began to add movements to create the magnum choral opus we know today. The Et incarnatus est was probably one of the last movements to be composed, but the subsequent Crucifixus is rearrange- ment of the opening chorus of Cantata 12: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, a work composed in 1714 and performed here at Holy Comforter for Evensong in March 2020. The Agnus Dei movement is adaptation of an alto aria found in Bach’s 1735 Ascension Oratorio and exhibits elements of the style galant, a simpler style of composition without complex coun- terpoint. Fugue à 5 con pedale pro Organo pleno, BWV 552, ii The concluding Fugue in E-flat major from the Clavier-Übung III is one of a few triple fugues written by Bach. It has received the nickname “The St. Anne Fugue” for the similarity of the first fugue subject to William Croft’s hymn tune St. Anne (“O God, our help in ages past”). It resem- bles the older ricercar fugues of vocal and choral qualities, and is very different from the youthful Fugue in C minor, BWV 575. The second fugue subject resembles a playful dance before the first fugue subject is combined with it. The third and final fugue subject has a bolder dance quality in 12/8 time that combines the previous two fugues subjects to- gether for a grand conclusion. Page 6 NOTES ABOUT THE COMPOSER Johann Sebastian Bach has been admired as one of the greatest composers of all time. Composing in almost every style and genre of his time except opera, Bach was well-known throughout the 18th century as a virtuoso organist. He was born into a family with generations of musicians in the German Thuringian town of Eisenach (also the birthplace of Martin Luther) on March 21, 1685. By the age of ten, both of his parents had died and he was sent to live with an older brother in Ohrdruf. He began his formal musical education as a choirboy at St. Michael’s Church in Lüne- burg where became acquainted with Lutheran Catechism, something that would shape the rest of his life. Bach also became acquainted with Georg Böhm, an influ- ential organist and composer at the neighboring St. John’s Church. Bach was appointed to his first organist position at the Neukirche in Arnstadt in 1703. In 1705, he obtained a four-week leave of absence to travel 300 miles to Lübeck (on foot as legend has it) to meet and hear the great Dieterich Buxtehude at the Marienkirche. He ended up staying four months but learned a great deal from experiencing Buxtehude’s Abendmusick, a series of elaborate evening concerts during Advent. In 1707, Bach began a short tenure as organist at St. Blasius in Mühlhausen where he supervised the rebuilding of the church’s organ, which helped attract students for Bach. While in Mühlhausen, Bach composed his Cantata 131: Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, a cantata performed here at Holy Comforter for Evensong in February 2018. In 1708, Bach was appointed court organist for the Duke of Weimar where he wrote the majority of his organ works. After being elevated to concertmaster in 1713, he was later appointed Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen in 1717 where Bach composed much of his secular music (Orchestral Suites and other chamber works including his Six Brandenburg Concertos) as the Prince was a Calvinist and had no need for elaborate music. Bach’s final position was as Kantor at the St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig where he was responsible for the music of four different Leipzig churches, the musi- cal training at the St. Thomas School, and the training of the city’s professional mu- sicians. He wrote the majority of his cantatas during this time as cantatas were an integral part of Leipzig Lutheran liturgies. Bach also composed four Passions, three Page 7 Oratorios, Musical Offering, BWV 1079 and the unfinished Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 during this time. After Bach’s death on July 28, 1750, much of his music was neglected and forgotten as times had changed. Between Bach’s two marriages, he had a total of 20 children although only 10 survived. His sons Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784), Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788), Johann Christoph Friedrich (1732-1795), and Johann Chris- tian (1735-1782) all had distinguished musical careers as composers.