The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") BWV 599-644 is
a collection of 46 chorale preludes for organ written
by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three of them were
composed during the period 1708–1717, while Bach was
court organist at the ducal court in Weimar. The
remaining three, along with a short two-bar fragment,
were added in 1726 or later, after Bach's appointment
as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
The collection was originally planned as a set of 164
chorale preludes spa...(+)
The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") BWV 599-644 is
a collection of 46 chorale preludes for organ written
by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three of them were
composed during the period 1708–1717, while Bach was
court organist at the ducal court in Weimar. The
remaining three, along with a short two-bar fragment,
were added in 1726 or later, after Bach's appointment
as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
The collection was originally planned as a set of 164
chorale preludes spanning the whole liturgical year.
The chorale preludes form the first of Bach's
masterpieces for organ with a mature compositional
style in marked contrast to his previous compositions
for the instrument. Although each of them takes a known
Lutheran chorale and adds a motivic accompaniment, Bach
explored a wide diversity of forms in the
Orgelbüchlein. Many of the chorale preludes are short
and in four parts, requiring only a single keyboard and
pedal, with an unadorned cantus firmus. Others involve
two keyboards and pedal: these include several canons,
four ornamental four-part preludes, with elaborately
decorated chorale lines, and a single chorale prelude
in trio sonata form. The Orgelbüchlein has a four-fold
purpose: it is a collection of organ music for church
services, a treatise on composition, a religious
statement, and an organ-playing manual.
In these chorale preludes, the traditional Lutheran
hymns are subjected to various types of polyphonic
treatment, with different types of countersubjects and
imitative devices.
This is the penultimate work in the Glaubenslieder
(Songs of Faith), the closing section of Bach's early
and important collection of Chorale Preludes (45)
making up the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book). The
Glaubenslieder works are based on chorales whose texts
come from a variety of religious subjects and therefore
differ from the first 33 in the Orgelbüchlein, whose
chorale themes are all related in subject matter to
Lutheran feast days. Bach wrote these works when he
served as the court organist for the Duke of
Sachsen-Weimar from 1708-1717, a period during which he
wrote a vast number of organ works. In "Alle Menschen
müssen sterben" (All Men Must Die), Bach presents a
theme not even remotely as gloomy or morbid as the
work's title might suggest. The melody, in fact, is
actually joyous and serene, apparently expressing the
Christian view that death is the portal to eternal
salvation, to a life of eternal happiness in heaven. As
usual, Bach invests the work with deft contrapuntal
writing, which in this case enlivens the stately and
deliberate gait of the chorale theme and also enhances
its sense of serenity. This chorale prelude lasts a bit
longer than a minute-and-a-half and will appeal to
Baroque and organ music enthusiasts.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgelb%C3%BCchlein).
I created this Transcription of the Choral Prelude (BWV
643) "Alle Menschen müssen sterben" (All Men Must Die)
for Pipe Organ with the Organ Registration assistance
of Bernard Greenberg (user:
https://musescore.com/user/1831606).
