Complete Bach Organ Series 2016-2017

This is the fourth recital in this series presented on the expanded Loening-Hancock Organ.

Admission to this recital is free, but a free-will offering will be taken to benefit the Miller-Scott Organ Fund.

• Pi√®ce d’Orgue, BWV 572

• Komm, Heiliger Geist, BWV 652

• Praeludium in G, BWV 568

• Allein Gott in der H√∂h sei Ehr, BWV 662
• Allein Gott in der H√∂h sei Ehr, BWV 663
• Trio super Allein Gott in der H√∂h sei Ehr, BWV 664

• Alla Breve in D, BWV 589

• Komm, Gott, Sch√∂pfer, Heiliger Geist, BWV 667
• Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, BWV 632
• Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier, BWV 731

• Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 541

The fourth recital in the Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue complete Bach organ series explores music relating to Pentecost. Pentecost or Whitsunday celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, accompanied by a rushing wind, tongues of fire, and the disciples speaking in many languages. The bold and vivid imagery of the feast has inspired many great artists including J.S. Bach.

The opening work, Pi√®ce d’Orgue (sometimes referred to as Fantasia in G Major), is an early work and draws heavily on French influence. In the opening section marked ‚ÄúTr√®s vitement,‚Äù a single melodic line darts to and fro across almost the entire range of the keyboard. The second section ‚ÄúGravement‚Äù is written in thick five-voice counterpoint, the parts in constant tension with one another in a seemingly perpetual succession of suspension and resolution. The work ends with another virtuosic section marked ‚ÄúLentement,‚Äù employing the stile bris√© harpsichord technique. Although there is no explicit program for the work, one could possibly hear the inspiration of Pentecost. The opening section, with its light registration and gradually descending melodic line might represent the common depiction of the Holy Spirit as a dove. The polyphony of the second section could represent the great multitude coming together and the disciples speaking in many languages. (Interestingly, in this section Bach writes a low B in the pedals, a note not known to exist on any organ with which Bach was familiar.) The descending chromatic pedal line and rapid arpeggiation of the third section could be heard as a depiction of the tongues of fire.

The first recital of this series opened with the Fantasia super Komm, Heiliger Geist, BWV 651 in which the great rushing wind can be heard in the bold counterpoint over the cantus firmus (chorale melody) in the pedal. This second setting of the chorale from the Leipzig collection treats this same theme in a very different fashion. Each phrase of the chorale is introduced contrapuntally (called vorimitation) before elaborate ornamentation on a solo stop, a form developed by Bach’s North German forebears and perfected by Dietrich Buxtehude. Indeed this extensive ornamented chorale prelude could be heard as predictable or even formulaic were it not for a remarkable flourishing of the texture in the last thirteen measures. It is as though this calm Sarabande suddenly erupts into shouts of ‚ÄúHallelujah!‚Äù

As in Clavierübung III, Bach includes three settings of the German Gloria Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr in the Leipzig collection. There are several clues that this arrangement may refer to the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. For instance in the sequence of keys (A-G-A), the second setting of Allein Gott seems literally to come down. The melody is ornamented in the tenor voice, perhaps reflecting that the Son “was made man.” Furthermore, the flowing rhythm and pastoral character of this prelude is interrupted by a brief yet dramatic adagio section. Perhaps Bach had the following text in mind from the third verse of the chorale: “Thou Lamb once slain, our God and Lord” at that moment. The third movement is written with ingenious invertible counterpoint in the style of a trio sonata. While the chorale tune appears in motivic fragments throughout the movement, it is not presented clearly until the final page.

Komm Gott Sch√∂pfer, Heiliger Geist, BWV 667 is the final complete prelude of the Leipzig Chorales. The tune and text are a Lutheran adaptation of the ancient hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus. The first section is borrowed from Bach’s Orgelb√ºchlein, BWV 631 in which the chorale tune is stated plainly in the soprano voice. Written in 12/8 time, one unique feature of this prelude is the use of the pedals on every third eighth-note rather than on the beat. This is clearly a reference to the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. After the first presentation of the tune, the manuals erupt in sixteenth-note figuration evocative of the great rushing wind at Pentecost, and the cantus firmus is heard once again in long note values in the pedals.

The Prelude and Fugue in G Major, BWV 541 is one of Bach’s most beloved organ works. Opening with a virtuosic solo line, the prelude draws a discernable influence from Vivaldi. A notable and unusual feature of this prelude is the prominence of repeated notes, and characteristic which also defines the fugue subject. Reworked at various stages in Bach’s compositional career, the Fugue demonstrates his masterful control of dissonance, gradually increasing in intensity throughout the movement. Bach draws on his entire fugal toolkit, incorporating extended episodes, false entrances, stretto (overlapping) entrances, pedal points, and other compositional devices to build to one of the most exciting conclusions in the organ repertoire.

• Organ Recitals