Bach's Ten Best Chorale Preludes
(In my Humble Opinion)
I’ll try not to be too verbose with this, but it just came to my head. What do I consider to be Bach’s best chorale preludes (the ‘why’…maybe we’ll get there). A *chorale prelude, loosely defined, is a piece of music where the subject of a chorale-melody is heard throughout, although not plainly like a chorale, but drawn-out and ornamented, with the three other parts unique yet flowing along nicely with the mood of the piece. Bach’s predecessors Buxtehude and Pachelbel and Böhm, for example, all were fine writers of chorale-preludes themselves.
*Perhaps one day I’ll make a post about Bach’s chorale partitas and variations, but that’s for another day.
But Bach goes above and beyond, as most always. His chorale preludes can be summarized as some of the best examples of not only the genre, but the overall style the Baroque. Let’s take a listen!
This piece is actually an arrangement from a movement of a cantata which has the same title. This is the tenor-aria, and as difficult as it might be to sing, it certainly provides quite the challenge for the organist to perform!
II. Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659
This is a lovely and somber prelude whose melody is so richly ornamented that one loses sight of the original cantus firmus. While Bach wrote two other preludes and a fugue-like piece with the same title, this one is very common to be played around funerals (I’d expect?) as well as Advent-time.
III. Vater Unser im Himmelreich, BWV 762
This prelude is actually seen as spurious by some folks; perhaps Bach was not the author? It could’ve been another composer close to him; a pupil (he had dozens, after all! dozens!) or one of his contemporary professionals. In my personal opinion, it’s got to be Bach; all the lines in succession make sense, and there’s a hint of youthfulness (yet seriousness) within the piece which can be reflected in other early organ works.
While Bach wrote many chorale preludes on this subject, as well as a fugue, as well as a chorale-partita (BWV 771), this prelude is my personal favorite due to its level of expressiveness and somber (but not sad!) mood. While I’m someone who enjoys a lot of Bach’s organ music at its loudest, angriest, and darkest…something about his quieter, more consoling, bittersweet, major-key pieces are more moving in a way.
This is one of Bach’s prettiest, most show-offy pieces. Another aria from a cantata which was for alto, violin solo, and continuo, the music was transcribed for organ with the cantus firmus meant for the pedal, of all part! Reportedly, Bach could play with his feet ‘more accurately than some could with ten fingers’ and this piece makes me wonder what it would’ve been like to hear the master perform.
VI. Wo Soll ich Fliehen Hin? BWV 646
This is another prelude where the main melody is presented within the pedal. This piece is thought to have been arranged from a cantata which no longer exists. Bach wrote a couple other pieces under this same title, and even a cantata; some variants include the title Auf Meinen Leben Gott, whose music is the same.
VII. Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele - BWV 654
Of this chorale prelude, I believe it was the composer Robert Schumann who wrote, “Were all hope in my life to be banished utterly, this chorale prelude alone could restore what I had lost” (my paraphrase). This solemn music could serve as a postlude for its cantata of the same title, although I suppose it might also work for a funeral too?
VIII. Meine Seele Erhebet den Herrn, BWV 733
Trick question: is this a chorale prelude, or a chorale fugue? Perhaps both. The only other prelude to exist under this title is BWV 648, which is (you guessed!) another arrangement from a movement to a cantata…with the same title. In this piece, Bach displays his mastery of not only counterpoint but compositional technique overall, leaving us wondering til the very end when and if the pedal will make its entrance. And he doesn’t disappoint!
IX. Herzlich tut Mich Verlangen, BWV 727
This piece is over a melody which we have not heard before, yet Bach knew it well. The tune some might recognize as being a ‘passion-chorale’ as it is used on multiple occasions in his cantatas, as well as the great St. Matthew Passion. This work is varying in terms of harmonic expression, even if the melody is not so greatly ornamented.
This prelude for three voices is one of several in his collection ‘The Little Organ Book’ where the master wrote chorale-preludes, each over a unique melody. This particular bit of music is widely-known and widely-performed, being used in various films and other sorts of media. While Bach uses similar techniques in this prelude as he exemplified in the other pieces I listed, something about this music is…more moving than the rest.
Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed.