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BWV = Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, Catalogue of Bach’s works compiled by Schmieder (publ. 1950 Leipzig, and Wiesbaden 1990)
Within the confines of the programme used to compile the Database, we follow the BWV reference numerically,
but you will notice that there are gaps between the various numbers listed and this is because we are excluding
mostly the compositions that are spurious. Therefore, we leave room for further updating as any new pieces come
to light or as others are confirmed as authentic.
The following BWV numbers are not included in this Database
BWV 589, 597, 702, 705, 707, 708, 716, 723, 742-50,
751-2, 754-760, 761-765, 771.
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Bach ordered many of his organ compositions into collections and usually for some later purpose, for example
for publication. These collections had titles e.g. Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book), The Schübler Chorale
Preludes - named after the publisher, and the famous ‘Leipzig’ chorales known to organists as The Great ‘18’.
The various WebPages prepared for each organ piece will identify the sets from which it comes even including
‘general’ and ‘miscellaneous’ for those not assigned to any named set. A brief summary about the various ‘Collections’
follows:
Trio Sonatas
BWV 525-530
Proficient keyboard skills are a prerequisite for the aspiring organist. As a Lutheran and reflecting Luther’s
teaching that “Music is a beautiful and gracious gift from God to be encouraged both in church and in the home”,
Bach considered the musical needs of his gifted family as well as his church. In the process we are also the
beneficiaries of what he produced.
With his eldest son’s keyboard skills at a sufficiently competent level, Bach compiled a set of six Sonatas
in late 1720s Leipzig to develop Wilhelm Friedemann’s organ studies further. These Sonatas were for two manuals
and pedals (Trio Sonatas), with some of the music contained in them probably dating from Bach’s earliest years
as well as from those in the early part of his Leipzig tenure. Anna Magdalena and Wilhelm Friedemann made copies
of the six works which is further evidence of Bach family industry, and for Wilhelm Friedemann’s this exercise
will have also consolidated his study of the Trio Sonatas. He was later to become recognised as a virtuoso organist,
owing much to the careful tutelage of his father. Indeed, being accomplished in performing Bach’s Organ Sonatas could
be regarded as the zenith in organ-playing artistry for all exponents.
Orgel-Büchlein (‘Little Organ Book’)
BWV 599-644
In our brief Introduction to the Orgel-Büchlein (‘Little Organ Book’), we are able to underline further Bach’s
educational and religious priorities.
Composed mainly during his highly productive years at the Weimar Court (1708-1717) the Orgel-Büchlein consists
of 46 chorale preludes, although clearly Bach originally intended it to be a much larger volume containing over
160 chorales. The inscription on the title page of the autograph score to the set was written later at Cöthen
(1717-1723), and bears witness to the composer’s concern to encourage a good playing technique and understanding
of the genre in both the chorale and in the art of pedalling right from the beginning of an organist’s life.
There is also a clear and orderly provision for the Church Year. This is perhaps an early manifestation of Bach’s
intention to provide a ‘well-regulated church music’ which he realised and firmly established with such genius in
the cantatas, especially the five cycles (jahrgang) composed at Leipzig. In the Orgel-Büchlein, the Church Year
is provided for in the following BWV allocations:
- BWV 599 - 602 Advent
- BWV 603 - 612 Christmas
- BWV 613 - 615 New Year’s Day
- BWV 616 - 617 Purification
- BWV 618 - 624 Passiontide
- BWV 625 - 630 Easter
- BWV 631 - 634 Pentecost
- BWV 635 - 644 General
Schübler Chorale Preludes
BWV 645-650
The set of six Chorale Preludes of various kinds (Sechs Chorale von verschiedener Art) are known as the Schübler
Chorale Preludes, and named after the engraver who also published them c.1748/9. The Schüblers were an industrious
family of engravers, iron cutters and carvers who came from Zella in the beautiful Forest of Thuringia. Johann Georg
Schübler studied music with Bach at Leipzig and it was to his former pupil that the composer turned in the late 1740s
to engrave and later publish a set of six organ preludes that are transcriptions of cantata movements written earlier.
The cantatas from which the preludes are transcribed are identified on the appropriate Web Pages. There is one exception:
BWV 646 “Wo soll ich fliehen hin” is not derived from the extant Cantata BWV 5, but is most probably from one of the lost
cantatas. Scholars have argued that BWV 646 is an original work, but, given the origins of the other pieces in the set,
surely it makes more sense to conclude that this too is a transcription.
The ‘Leipzig Chorales’ or ‘The Great 18’
BWV 651-668
Writers and commentators on Bach’s life readily divide it into neat and tidy periods because it is a useful and efficient
way of telling his story to an ever curious and even confused listener. The main output of organ works have often been
assigned exclusively to Bach’s years serving at the Weimar Court (1708-1717) and this is fairly accurate. However, it
is equally important to recall that the composer ‘returned’ to his composing ‘roots’ throughout his life and the story of
the so-called ‘Leipzig Chorales’ or ‘The Great 18’ is a good example. Once again, we find ourselves at Leipzig in the
early 1740s for the assembly and publication of these fine chorale preludes, but most of which Bach composed at Weimar
(1708-1717). Once again we find Bach the reviser and expander at work, revisions that took place probably between 1739
and 1742.
In contrast to the Orgel-Büchlein ‘The Great 18’ are chorale fantasias, although Bach turned to chorales featured in
his earlier collection in order to provide us with an expanded version of the same in this set - BWV 667 and 668 for
example. The latter has been the subject of much discussion because it is and remains incomplete. Bach revised and
expanded BWV 641 “Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein” (Orgel-Büchlein) to form BWV 668, which has become known as the
‘deathbed’ chorale because of the legend attached to it that Bach dictated the work when close to death. If this is
true then it brings Bach’s story to an appropriate and believable end, but, like some of his compositions, experts
cast doubt over its authenticity. An earlier complete setting of the same chorale melody is entitled ‘Wenn wir in
höchsten Nöthen sein’ BWV 668a.
Two more important contrasts with the Orgel-Büchlein lie in the fact that we do not have a collection here assembled
in accordance with the Church Year. What we do have in ‘The 18’ are, for example, two or even three different settings
of the same chorale presented consecutively, which enables us to admire and savour both the composing invention and the
mastery of the genre that Bach brought to each work. Grouping in performance BWV 659, 660 and 661, which are three
different settings of the advent chorale “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland”, also makes for a satisfying contrast in an organ
recital programme that is flanked by more substantial Preludes and Fugues for example.
The present pre-occupation of concert promoters is to feature this collection (and others) ‘complete’ in public recitals
or concerts, as the titles provide useful and quasi-effective marketing tools. However care needs to be taken when
presenting ‘The Great 18’ to provide also a satisfying and complementary musical contrast that sits well with the way Bach
has assembled the pieces. One suggestion is to preface the playing of the individual organ chorales (or groups of the same
title) with a choral setting of the appropriate melody sung by a vocal consort or quartet.
Clavierübung III
BWV 669-689
(including Prelude and Fugue in E flat BWV 552 and four duets BWV 802-805)
Clavierübung means keyboard practice. Bach assigned the title ‘Clavierübung’ to four sets of keyboard pieces, with
the third devoted to organ works and published at Leipzig in 1739. With the publication of this very substantial
collection, we mark the beginning of the decade in Bach’s life when he took stock of the vast corpus of works he
had composed and assembled some for publication. Flanked by the Prelude and Fugue in E flat BWV 552, Clavierübung
III includes chorale settings of the German ‘Missa’, and the Catechism (two each for The Ten Commandments, The Creed,
the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Penitence and Communion) plus four duets.
A source of fascination for all Bach students is the number symbolism to be found in the composer’s music. In
Clavierübung III we have evidence of Trinitarian Symbolism in abundance. For example BWV 552 is in three flats,
add the sequence of twenty one chorale preludes that follow the opening Prelude, plus the four duets and we come to
a total of twenty seven works (multiples of 3). Furthermore, in the Chorale Prelude BWV 679 “Dies sind die Heil’gen
zehn Gebot” (These are the Holy Ten Commandments) the fugue entry appears appropriately ten times. Another magnificent
example of Trinitarian Symbolism in Bach’s compositions is to be found in the Johannes-Passion. In the opening chorus
of the 1724 or first version of this setting for example, the first choral entry is “Herr, Herr, Herr…unser Herrscher
etc” symbolising the Trinity (God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Ghost).
The exact purpose or occasion that inspired the assembly of Clavierübung III is unclear.
‘Neumeister’ Chorale Preludes
BWV 719, BWV 957, BWV 1090-1120
The discovery of this valuable collection was made known in the early 1980s. It is a substantial find - eighty-two
chorale preludes, nearly forty of which are ascribed to J S Bach. The remainder include those by family members the
cousins Johann Michael and Johann Christoph Bach plus others, and the collection was compiled by Johann Gottfried
Neumeister towards the end of the 18th century.
The chorale preludes are arranged in accordance with the church year and those that J S Bach contributed date possibly
from his earliest years. With the discovery of this ‘lost’ collection, we are now able to acquire a greater knowledge
of Bach’s formative years as an organ composer and find the possible inspiration for the Orgel-Büchlein to follow.
Arrangements of Concertos
BWV 592-596
The five concertos Bach arranged for organ date from his years serving at the Court in Weimar and are usually attributed
to 1713/14. Two are arrangements (transcriptions) of concertos by the gifted Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar and the
remaining three are after the composer Vivaldi. The details are given on the appropriate Web Pages. One of the styles
of composition that Bach studied in some detail whilst at Weimar was the Italian style (Vivaldi, Torelli etc), one he
was later to raise to new heights in scale and musical invention with his violin concertos in particular. With these
works, the transcriptions of the same for harpsichord(s) and his famous 65 bar ‘cadenza’ in the fifth Brandenburg
Concerto, also for harpsichord, we see the solo concerto emerging, a form ultimately raised to its zenith in the virtuoso
works by Brahms, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt, among others, and composed in the 19th century.
Canonic Variations on “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her”
BWV 769
Bach composed this set of five variations during the last decade of his life at Leipzig and presented it to the famous
Mitzler Society when being introduced to this learned organisation in 1747. The chorale melody “Vom Himmel hoch da komm’
ich her” is attributed to Martin Luther and dates from 1539, the year the Reformation extended to Leipzig and the city
took control of the management and funding of the Thomasschule. The chorale belongs to the Christmas season and there
are no less than five more settings of it in the Bach organ collection, a further three in his Christmas Oratorio
BWV 248
and is one of the interpolations in the E Flat Magnificat
BWV 243a
of 1723. The Canonic Variations were not
composed for any church occasion and this perhaps gave Bach a 'freedom' from his more 'familiar' composing obligations. Here we
experience Bach’s compositional mastery of the canon that prevailed in the Musical Offering BWV 1079 and The Art of
Fugue BWV 1080, works which also belong to the 1740s. Perceived to be more for intellectual or philosophical appreciation
than some works, and indeed composed with the fewer rather than the many in mind, the Canonic Variations expose Bach’s
creative genius for all of us to continue to admire.
Chorale Variations (or Partite diverse)
BWV 766, 767, 768, 770
As the title suggests, these works are sets of variations on a given chorale melody. The dating of each varies accordingly,
from those in Bach’s earliest years at Lüneburg at the turn of the 18th century (BWV 766, 767 and 770) to the Weimar
period itself (BWV 768). In ascribing the set of Chorale Variations (or Partite diverse) to the early 1700s, then the
influence of Bach’s lifelong friend, the composer Georg Böhm, must have prevailed. Böhm was a composer of stylistically
important keyboard music and is probably one of the key musicians to have introduced Bach to the French style of
composition that was becoming fashionable in Germany at the time, especially at the Courts.
General
These refer to Preludes & Fugues, Fantasias & Fugues etc.
Miscellaneous
These refer to works that are not part of a named collection and are published, unless otherwise stated.
Works of Doubtful Authenticity
These have been included if they are published, unless otherwise stated.
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| BG Volume Details |
BG = Bachgesellschaft (Bach Society) originally founded in 1850 to publish the complete works of Bach and wound up on completion of task in 1899, refounded in 1900. |
| NBA Volume Details |
NBA = Neue Bach-Ausgabe (New Bach Edition) published by Bärenreiter. |
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Upon his arrival at Leipzig in 1723, Bach set about providing what he called ‘a well-regulated
church music’, a stock of specially composed music to serve and for use throughout the church year
(1st Sunday after Trinity to Trinity Sunday).
These were the famous ‘Jahrgang’, the annual cycles of church cantatas, five in all, and composed
between 1723 and 1728. These works could overshadow the significance of the collection of both church
and secular cantatas that flowed from as early as 1707, for this great outpouring of musical creativity
came at the beginning of his Leipzig tenure. The post of Cantor at the Leipzig Thomasschule ideally
suited Bach because it gave him a reason to put down on paper what had probably been gestating in his
head on the one hand and, on the other, an opportunity to revise existing material. A case could be
made that Bach applied to the assembly and planning of his organ repertory the same orderly thinking
that accompanied the composition of his cantata treasury.
Equally on examination of the Organ Works, most of which date much earlier than 1723, substantial
provision for the main seasons of the Church Year - Advent, Christmas, Passiontide and Whitsuntide - can
all be found in the form of Chorale Preludes, with Toccatas and Fugues, Preludes and Fugues and Fantasias
and Fugues composed for the pre-service music and postludes. These works would also be called upon for
recitals or demonstrations on the organs Bach happened to be playing and inspecting at the time.
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The dating of many organ works has caused scholars to be cautious before assigning them unequivocally
to specific periods and or dates, and in many instances only an approximation is possible or sensible.
Therefore question marks abound in this Database! However, it is still generally accepted that the main
corpus of organ works stem from pre-Leipzig years (pre.1723), with the Weimar years probably being the
most productive.
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In the sections of the database that deal with the Church Cantatas and Secular Cantatas respectively
we have provided a Search Option for Place of Composition. However, taking into account the points
under Date of Composition (Above) and the attendant uncertainties as
to where numerous works were composed, this Search Option has been omitted.
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| Notes |
Ref: Links Providing some links to appropriate cantatas or a Passion for example makes for interesting cross-referencing and an aid to concert programming. |
© Margaret Steinitz
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