Chorale Prelude on Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich

Chorale prelude - Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich, BWV Various single chorale.
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It has been taken by some commentators as a musical allusion to the words kreuze lange in the text: Below is the text of the hymn with the English translation of Benjamin Hall Kennedy. It closely follows the four voices of Bach's earlier harmonisation in the four-part chorale BWV , with virtually no changes in the cantus firmus. It is derived from the final descending notes of the melody:. The semiquaver motif runs continuously throughout the piece, passing from one lower voice to another.

Commentators have given different interpretations of what the motif might symbolise: Some have also seen the suspensions between bars as representing "the bonds of death". These interpretations can depend on the presumed tempo of the chorale prelude. At a faster tempo, as has become more common, the mood becomes more exultant and vigorous, with a climax at the words Gott loben und dankbar sein "praise our God right heartily" , where the music becomes increasingly chromatic. Williams suggests that the motif might then resemble the Gewalt "power" motif in the cello part of BWV 4, verse 3 ; and that the turmoil created by the rapidly changing harmonies in some bars might echo the word Krieg "war" in verse 4.

Below is the text of the three verses of the Easter hymn Christ ist erstanden with the English translation of Myles Coverdale. Throughout Thuringia and Saxony this became the hymn that the congregation sang as the priest entered the pulpit before delivering his Sunday sermon. Johann Gottfried Walther , Bach's distant cousin and the organist in the Stadtkirche in Weimar, also set the hymn as a chorale prelude and as a partita with many variations.

BWV is written for single keyboard and pedal with the cantus firmus in the soprano part: The same suspirans triad motif, like a broken chord or arpeggio , forms the basis of the accompaniment in the two inner voices: More than a simple accompaniment, the push the harmonies forward, revealing it unexpectedly at every turn.

Below them the pedal bass provides a distinctive accompaniment in quavers and crotchets, starting off with a quaver triad. Although largely moving in steps, like a walking bass , the pedal plays a type of canon two octaves below the cantus. The canon is itself disguised, in crotchets in the first half with the same rhythm as the soprano; but in the second half it is heard in fragmentary form at double the speed in quavers.

The reprise of the second part differs from the hymn as it appears in hymnbooks; but the stream of repeated triadic motifs—which Schweitzer a interpreted as constant repetitions of Herr Jesu Christ —add to the mood of supplication in the chorale prelude. Hermann Keller has suggested that Bach might have employed the canon as musical iconography for the plea to be "led" at the end of the first verse: Below is the first verse of Tobias Clausnitzer's hymn with the English translation of Catherine Winkworth.

Below are the first and last two verses of the Lutheran catechism hymn of the Ten Commandments with an English translation by George MacDonald.

Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich… | Details | AllMusic

The Lutheran Erfurter Enchiridion of contains the text with the melody, which was also used for In Gottes Nahmen fahren wir , a pilgrims' hymn. The chorale prelude BWV is in the mixolydian mode with the cantus firmus in the soprano voice in simple minims. The accompaniment in the three lower voices is built up from two motifs each containing the repeated notes that characterise the theme. It also occurs in inverted form. This emphatic hammering motif is passed imitatively between the lower voices as a form of canon. The second motif, first heard in the alto part in bars 2 and 3, is made up of five groups of 4 semiquavers, individual groups being related by inversion first and fifth and reflection second and third.

The second motif is passed from voice to voice in the accompaniment—there are two passages where it is adapted to the pedal with widely spaced semiquavers alternating between the feet—providing an unbroken stream of semiquavers complementing the first motif. The combined affekt of the four parts, with 25 repetitions of the quaver motif, is one of "confirming" the biblical laws chanted in the verses of the hymn. There is likewise a reference to "law" in the canon of the quaver motif.

Chorale Prelude 'Der Tag Der Ist So Freudenreich', BWV 605

For Spitta the motif had "an inherent organic connection with the chorale itself. The attempts of Schweitzer have been criticised: Harvey Grace felt that Bach was "expressing the idea of insistence, order, dogma—anything but statistics. Following the publication of the text and melody in , the hymn was used in many choral and organ compositions.

He used it in cantatas BWV 90 , and with a different text. Amongst the early organ compositions on Vater unser attributed to Bach, only the chorale prelude BWV has been ascribed with any certainty. In the chorale prelude BWV the plain cantus firmus is in the soprano voice. The accompaniment in the inner parts and pedal is based on a four-note semiquaver suspirans motif i.

In turn Bach's slight alteration of the melody in bars 1 and 3 might have been dictated by his choice of motif. The two forms of the motif and their inversions pass from one lower voice to another, producing a continuous stream of semiquavers; semiquavers in one voice are accompanied by quavers in the other two. The combined effect is of the harmonisation of a chorale by arpeggiated chords.

Hermann Keller even suggested that Bach might have composed the chorale prelude starting from an earlier harmonisation; as Williams points out, however, although the harmonic structure adheres to that of a four-part chorale, the pattern of semiquavers and suspended notes is different for each bar and always enhances the melody, sometimes in unexpected ways. Below are the first and seventh verses of the hymn written in by Lazarus Spengler with an English translation by John Christian Jacobi.

The penitential text, written in the Nuremberg of Hans Sachs and the Meistersingers where Spengler was town clerk, is concerned with "human misery and ruin," faith and redemption; it encapsulates some of the central tenets of the Lutheran Reformation. The melody, originally for a Reformation battle hymn of , was first published with Spengler's text in Scored for single manual and pedal, the unadorned cantus firmus is in the soprano voice.

Beneath the melody in a combination of four different motifs, the inner parts wind sinuously in an uninterrupted line of semiquavers, moving chromatically in steps. Below them the pedal responds to the melodic line with downward leaps in diminished, major and minor sevenths , punctuated by rests.

Bach's ingenious writing is constantly varying. The expressive mood is heightened by the fleeting modulations between minor and major keys; and by the dissonances between the melody and the chromatic inner parts and pedal. The abrupt leaps in the pedal part create unexpected changes in key; and halfway through the chorale prelude the tangled inner parts are inverted to produce an even stranger harmonic texture, resolved only in the final bars by the modulation into a major key.

The chorale prelude has generated numerous interpretations of its musical imagery, its relation to the text and to baroque affekt. Williams records that the dissonances might symbolise original sin, the downward leaps in the pedal the fall of Adam, and the modulations at the close hope and redemption; the rests in the pedal part could be examples of the affekt that the seventeenth century philosopher Athanasius Kircher called "a sighing of the spirit.


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Terry described the pedal part as "a series of almost irremediable stumbles"; in contrast Ernst Arfken saw the uninterrupted cantus firmus as representing constancy in faith. For Wolfgang Budday, Bach's departure from normal compositional convention was itself intended to symbolise the "corruption" and "depravity" of man. Spitta also preferred to view Bach's chorale prelude as representing the complete text of the hymn instead of individual words, distinguishing it from Buxtehude's earlier precedent.

Considered to be amongst his most expressive compositions— Snyder describes it as "imbued with sorrow"—Buxtehude's setting employs explicit word-painting. The text treats a central Lutheran theme—only faith in God is required for redemption. The melody is from an Easter hymn. In the chorale prelude BWV for single manual and pedal, the cantus firmus is in the soprano voice in simple crotchets.

The accompaniment in the inner voices is built on a four-note motif—derived from the hymn tyne—a descending semiquaver scale, starting with a rest or "breath" suspirans: Below them the pedal is a walking bass in quavers, built on the inverted motif and octave leaps, pausing only to mark the cadences at the end of each line of the hymn. The combination of the four parts conveys a joyous mood, similar to that of BWV and For Hermann Keller, the running quavers and semiquavers "suffuse the setting with health and strength. Both have similar rhythmic structures in the parts, but one is in a minor key with complex chromatic harmonies, the other in a major key with firmly diatonic harmonies.

Pure in style, this ornamental chorale prelude has been described as "a supplication in time of despair. It is possible that the unusual choice of key followed Bach's experience playing the new organ at Halle which employed more modern tuning. The ornamented melody in crotchets quarter notes sings in the soprano above a flowing legato semiquaver 16th note accompaniment and gently pulsating repeated quavers eighth notes in the pedal continuo. Such viol-like semiquaver figures in the middle voice already appeared as "imitatio violistica" in the Tabalutara nova of Samuel Scheidt.

The instrumental combination itself was used elsewhere by Bach: Below is the first verse of the hymn of Adam Reissner with the English translation of Catherine Winkworth. The text of the hymn is derived from the first six lines of Psalm 31 and was associated with two different melodies, in major and minor keys.

The hymn tune in the major key was used many times by Bach, most notably in the funeral cantata BWV , the Christmas Oratorio and the St. BWV is the only occasion he used the melody in the minor key, which can be traced back to an earlier reformation hymn tune for Christ ist erstanden and medieval plainsong for Christus iam resurrexit. In Bach's chorale prelude BWV , the cantus firmus is in the soprano voice, several times held back for effect. Beneath it the two inner voices—often in thirds—and the pedal provide an accompaniment based on a motif derived from the melody, a falling three-note anapaest consisting of two semiquavers and a quaver.

The motif is passed imitatively down through the voices, often developing into more flowing passages of semiquavers; the motif in the pedal has an added quaver and—punctuated by rests—is more fragmentary. The harmonies resulting from the combined voices produce a hymn-like effect. Schweitzer described the anapaest as a "joy" motif; to Hermann Keller it symbolised "constancy". For Williams , the angular motifs and richer subdued textures in the lower registers are consonant with the "firm hope" of the text, in contrast to more animated evocations of joy.

Below are the first two verses of the hymn of Paul Eber with the English translation of Catherine Winkworth. The cantus firmus of this ornamental chorale prelude was written by Louis Bourgeois in The accompaniment in the two middle voices, often in parallel sixths, and the pedal is derived from the first four notes of the melody. The highly ornate ornamentation is rare amongst Bach's chorale preludes, the only comparable example being BWV from the Great Eighteen. The vocal ornamentation and portamento appoggiaturas of the melody are French in style.

Coloratura passages lead into the unadorned notes of the cantus firmus. Williams describes this musical device, used also in BWV and BWV , as a means of conveying "a particular kind of touching, inexpressible expressiveness. The melody was also composed by Neumark: Neumark originally wrote the melody in 3 2 time. In the chorale prelude BWV , the unadorned cantus firmus in 4 4 time is in the soprano voice. The two inner voices, often in thirds, are built on a motif made up of two short beats followed by a long beat—an anapaest —often used by Bach to signify joy for example in BWV , , , , , , , , , and The pedal has a walking bass which also partly incorporates the joy motif in its responses to the inner voices.

For Schweitzer the accompaniment symbolised "the joyful feeling of confidence in God's goodness. Below are the first and last two verses of the funeral hymn of Johann Georg Albinus with the English translation of Catherine Winkworth. A mood of ecstasy permeates this chorale prelude, a funeral hymn reflecting the theme of heavenly joy. The simple cantus firmus sings in crotchets quarter notes above an accompanying motif of three semiquavers 16th notes followed by two quavers eighth notes that echoes between the two inner parts and the pedal.

Schweitzer describes its use by Bach as a motif of "beatific peace", commenting that "the melody of the hymn that speaks of the inevitability of death is thus enveloped in a motif that is lit up by the coming glory. Below are the first and last verses of Michael Franck's hymn of with the English translation of Sir John Bowring.

Bach's title conforms to a later hymnbook from Weimar which inverted the order throughout. The chorale prelude is in four voices for single manual with pedals. The cantus firmus in the sporano voice is a simple form of the hymn tune in crotchets. The motif in the pedal is a constant three-note quaver figure, with octave leaps punctuated by frequent rests. Above this bass, the inner voices weave a continuous pattern of descending and ascending scales in semiquavers, constantly varying, sometimes moving in the same direction and sometimes in contrary motion.

This texture of flowing scales over a "quasi-pizzicato" bass captures the theme of the hymn: To Spitta the scales "hurry by like misty ghosts. Exceptionally Bach scored the final chord of this nebulous piece without pedal. A similar device has been used by Bach for the word inanes "empty" in the ninth movement of his Magnificat. Stinson also sees similarities with Bach's omission of a bass part in Wie zittern und wanken from cantata BWV , an aria concerned with the uncertainties in the life of a sinner.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Autograph manuscript of BWV Cranach altarpiece in St Peter und Paul, where Bach played the organ. Wilhelmsburg, Weimar, c , built in the s and destroyed by fire in The two pages of "In dulci jubilo" in the autograph manuscript. Williams , pp. Wolff Stinson , pp. Boyd , pp. The Organ Music of J. Retrieved 21 August Stinson , p. Compositions for organ , keyboard and lute by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach Twelve Little Preludes. Retrieved from " https: Chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach Compositions for organ.

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

This page was last edited on 3 July , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. A further step towards perfecting this form was taken by Bach when he made the contrapuntal elements in his music a means of reflecting certain emotional aspects of the words.

Pachelbel had not attempted this; he lacked the fervid feeling which would have enabled him thus to enter into his subject. And it is entering into it, and not a mere depicting of it. For, once more be it said, in every vital movement of the world external to us we behold the image of a movement within us; and every such image must react upon us to produce the corresponding emotion in that inner world of feeling.

Here Bach has realised the ideal of the chorale prelude. The method is the most simple imaginable and at the same time the most perfect. Simply by the precision and the characteristic quality of each line of the contrapuntal motive he expresses all that has to be said, and so makes clear the relation of the music to the text whose title it bears.

These four identities are so closely intertwined that it is hard to know where one leaves off and another begins. Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, der Jungfrauen Kind erkannt! Come, Saviour of nations wild, Of the maiden owned the Child, Fill with wonder all the earth, God should grant it such a birth. God of grace and mercy, Glance in pity on me; Heart and mind and spirit, Keep them through Thy merit. Satan every hour Waiteth to devour. Once He came in blessing, All our ills redressing; Came in likeness lowly, Son of God most holy; Bore the cross to save us, Hope and freedom gave us.

We have in Jesse founde this rod, God and Man natural! He is the mornynge star; His beames sendeth He out farre Beyonde other starres all. So wyll we alwaye thanke The, That shewest us so great mercye, And oure synnes dost forgeve. For all the grace poured on us, By Thee, our loving Lord. To God we render thanks and praise, Who pitied mankind's fallen race, And gave His dear and only Son That us, as children, He might own. That we might share eternal bliss; O what unbounded love was this! Puer natus est in Bethlehem, unde gaudet Ierusalem!

A Child is born in Bethlehem; Exult for joy, Jerusalem! Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, dass du Mensch geboren bist von einer Jungfrau, das ist wahr; des freuet sich der Engel Schar. Now blessed be Thou, Christ Jesu; Thou art man borne, this is true: The aungels made a mery noyse, Yet have we more cause to rejoyse. Was geschah so wunderlich? Gottes Sohn vom Himmelreich, der is Mensch geboren. O hail this brightest day of days, All good Christian people!

For Christ hath come upon our ways, Ring it from the steeple! Ever was there news so great? God's own Son from heaven's high state Is born the Son of Mary! He comes to cheer a world forlorn, Its heavy sin to leaven. So, sing ye all the glorious birth Which doth redeem our fallen earth, And works our salvation. Laud to Thee, Child Jesu Christ! With mankind Thou'st kept the tryst Thou Star of every nation. Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her. Des freuen sich der Engel Schar Und singen uns solch neues Jahr. While angels sing with pious mirth A glad New Year to all the earth.

Vom Himmel kam der Engel Schar, erschien den Hirten offenbar; sie sagten ihn'n: Ihr habt mit euch den wahren Gott. From heaven the angel-troop come near, And to the shepherds plain appear: A tender little child, they cry, In a rough manger lies hard by. The true God is to you come in. Let hell and Satan raging go — The Son of God's your comrade now. In dulci jubilo, nun singet und seid froh! Trahe me post te! In dulci jubilo Let us our homage shew: Our heart's joy reclineth In praesepio; And like a bright star shineth Matris in gremio, Alpha es et O!

Trahe me post te. Deeply were we stained. But Thou for us hast gained Coelorum gaudia, O that we were there! O that we were there! With praise our God adore! Jesu, meine Freude, meines Herzens Weide, Jesu, meine Zier, ach, wie lang, ach lange ist dem Herzen bange und verlangt nach dir! Jesu, priceless treasure, Source of purest pleasure, Truest Friend to me; Ah! Christum wir sollen loben schon, der reinen Magd Marien Sohn, soweit die liebe Sonne leucht't und an aller Welt Ende reicht.

He seeks no mortal kingdom thus, Who brings His kingdom down to us. Mit uns ist Gott in dieser Not: Wer ist, der jetzt uns Christen kann verdammen? We Christians may Rejoice to-day, When Christ was born to comfort and to save us; Who thus believes No longer grieves, For none are lost who grasp the hope He gave us. Who dares to speak the Christian's condemnation? The old year now hath passed away, We thank Thee, O our God, today That Thou hast kept us through the year, When danger and distress were near. Take not Thy saving Word away. Our souls' true comfort and their stay; Abide with us, and keep us free From errors, following only Thee.

There shall we thank Thee, and adore, With all the angels evermore; Lord Jesus Christ, increase our faith To praise Thy name through life and death. Durch dich wir haben himmlische Gaben, du der wahre Heiland bist; hilfest von Schanden, rettest von Banden. Wer dir vertrauet, hat wohl gebauet, wird ewig bleiben. In Thee is gladness Amid all sadness, Jesus, Sunshine of my heart! By Thee are given The gifts of heaven, Thou the true Redeemer art! In peace and joy I now depart, According to God's will, For full of comfort is my heart, So calm and sweet and still; So doth God His promise keep, And death to me is but a sleep.

Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf! Lord God, now open wide Thy heaven, My parting hour is near; My course is run, enough I've striven, Enough I've suffered here; Weary and sad My heart is glad That she may lay her down to rest; Now all on earth I can resign. But only let Thy heaven be mine. And in this hope I calmly die; Yes, all on earth I can resign.

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If but Thy heaven may now be mine. Erbarm dich unser, O Jesu. O Lamb of God, most stainless! Who on the Cross didst languish, Patient through all Thy sorrows. Though mocked amid Thine anguish; Our sins Thou bearest for us, Else had despair reigned o'er us: Have mercy upon us, O Jesu! Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund und ihm sein Leib war ganz verwund't mit bitterlichen Schmerzen, die sieben Wort, die er da sprach, betracht in deinem Herzen. Den Toten er das Leben gab, und legt dabei all Krankheit ab! O man, thy grievous sin bemoan, For which Christ left His Father's throne, From highest heaven descending.

Of Virgin pure and undefiled He here was born, our Saviour mild, For sin to make atonement.

J.S. Bach - BWV 605 - Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich

The dead He raised to life again. The sick He freed from grief and pain. For Thou, the sinless One, hast died That sinners might be justified. And work in us Thy stedfast will, The Cross with patience to sustain, And bravely bear its utmost pain. To all the meek Thy strength is given, Who by Thy Cross ascend to heaven. Herr, du wollst mir beistan. Help, God, the formar of all thing. Therefore let us joyful be And praise our God right heartily.

So sing we Hallelujah! God of old, the Scriptures show, Did promise that it should be so. O Death, where's now thy victory? Christ ist erstanden Von der Marter alle, Des solln wir alle froh sein, Christ will unser Trost sein. Des solln wir alle froh sein, Christ will unser Trost sein. Christe is now rysen agayne From His death and all His payne: Therfore wyll we mery be, And rejoyse with Him gladly. But sen He is rysen in dede. Let us love Hym all with spede. To synge of the Lorde's goodnesse: Therfore glad now wyll we be, And rejoyse in Hym onely.

The day hath dawned — the day of days Transcending all our joy and praise: This day our Lord triumphant rose; This day He captive led our foes. Today God's only-gotten Son Arose from death, and triumph won, Alleluya, Alleluya, In mighty pomp and rich array; His therefore be the praise alway. Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, dein'n Heil'gen Geist du zu uns send! To learn Thy truth, and do Thy will. And with this lesson thy heart fill, That man must live for God's will. Our Father in the heaven Who art, Who tellest all of us in heart Brothers to be, and on Thee call, And wilt have prayer from us all, Grant that the mouth not only pray, From deepest heart oh help its way.

Strengthen our faith ever anew, That we may never be in doubt Of that we here have prayed about. In Thy name, trusting in Thy word. We say a soft Amen, O Lord. When Adam fell, the frame entire Of nature was infected; The source, whence came the poison dire, Was not to be corrected: The lust accursed, indulged at first, Brought death as its production; But God's free grace hath saved our race From misery and destruction. Sexy Trippy All Moods. Drinking Hanging Out In Love. Introspection Late Night Partying.

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