Prelude: "Herr Gott! dich loben wir" (BWV 725) for Wind Quintet - YouTube Mike Magatagan

As organist at Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach was charged with providing a harmonic underpinning for the singing of Lutheran chorale tunes chosen for each day. Bach wrote out many of these harmonizations, in part as instruction for younger composers (they are still used for this purpose). A derivation of this practice, Bach's conception of the organ chorale, as manifested in the chorale preludes, dates from 1713 -1714, about the time he became familiar with Vivaldi's concertos. Bach's Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) contains chorale preludes for the church year written during the composer's service at Weimar (1708 - 1717). In about 1713, Bach began assembling the Orgel-Büchlein, and his earliest entries seem to be Her Christ, der ein'ge Gottes-Sohn, BWV 601, In dulci jubilo, BWV 608, Christ ist erstanden, BWV 627, and Heut' triumphieret Gottes Sohn, BWV 630. These were very original compositions, highly expressive miniatures based on a chorale melody, supported with refined counterpoint, and featuring highly condensed motivic writing. Bach's Orgelbüchlein was essentially complete by 1716. Only the fragment O Traurigkeit and the chorale prelude, Helft mir Gottes Güte preisen, BWV 613, were added later. "Complete" is used with some reservation here, because Bach originally projected 164 pieces but completed fewer than 50. In Bach's manuscript, pages with finished pieces alternate with blank ones intended for other chorale preludes. The later pieces differ from Bach's earlier chorale elaborations, in that they contain only one statement of the melody and are intended to demonstrate how to accompany a chorale with contrapuntally proper figurations that support the meaning of the text. This is one of Bach's large-scale chorale preludes, having both a sizeable scope and substantial length. Lasting about ten minutes, "Herr Gott, dich loben wir" (Lord God, we praise You) features a relatively terse theme and a cantus firmus in the upper register appearing throughout the work. This effort is the Germanic counterpart to the Te Deum and is one of Bach's more challenging compositions for organists, not so much because of technical considerations, but primarily owing to interpretive ones. In the wrong hands, the work can sound repetitive and lacking in color, leaving its audience bored. Good organists capture Bach's subtle developmental and motivic workings and his masterful sense for atmosphere. The work opens with the theme presented in a fairly straightforward and somber manner. Brief pauses at the ends of phrases give the music a sort of stop-and-start gait. Soon the pacing exhibits more animation and while the music retains its hesitant movement forward, it develops a more emphatic and more epic manner as if Bach has converted what seemed a limp into a steady proud stride. Textures gradually fatten, too, and the work takes on a more epic demeanor coupled with a growing sense of expectation. Bach makes the music sprout new motives and subtle contrapuntal ideas, in the end producing a work whose subtle nuances and expressive depth will reward the patient listener Source: Allmusic (http://www.allmusic.com/composition/h...). Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created this Interpretation of the Chorale Prelude (BWV 725) "Herr Gott, dich loben wir" (Lord God, we praise You) for Wind Quintet (Flute, Oboe, English Horn, French Horn & Bassoon). Sheet music made with MuseScore - https://musescore.com

Prelude: "Herr Gott! dich loben wir" (BWV 725) for Wind Quintet - YouTube
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