Bach, Johann Sebastian - A Canonic Variation on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" for Flute & Oboe BWV 769 No. 2 Flute and Oboe |
Composer : | Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685 - 1750) | ||||
Instrumentation : | Flute and Oboe | ||||
Style : | Baroque | ||||
Arranger : Publisher : | MAGATAGAN, MICHAEL (1960 - ) | ||||
Copyright : | Public Domain | ||||
Added by magataganm, 19 Nov 2016 As organist at Weimar, Johann Sebastian Bach was charged with providing a harmonic underpinning for the singing of Lutheran chorale tunes chosen for each day. Bach wrote out many of these harmonizations, in part as instruction for younger composers (they are still used for this purpose). A derivation of this practice, Bach's conception of the organ chorale, as manifested in the chorale preludes, dates from 1713 -1714, about the time he became familiar with Vivaldi's concertos. In all his chorale arrangements, Bach took inspiration for the style and atmosphere from the words of the hymn on which his composition was based. But the main role in his chorale partitas seems to be given to pure pleasure in playing and inventiveness. For his variations on ‘Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig’, he literally pulls out all the stops. For over twenty minutes, he explores the harmonic, rhythmic and stylistic possibilities of the melody forming the base of the piece. The art of variation was already considered old-fashioned in Bach’s day. But Georg Böhm, the organ virtuoso with whom the fifteen-year-old Bach became acquainted during his schooldays in Lüneburg, was a master of variation. Through Böhm, Bach also came into contact with Reincken, and through him with Buxtehude, who were both composers with a flair for the art of variation. There was much that Bach could learn from these masters, but the challenge of variation must have held particular appeal for the young composer. It was not just conceiving of the most varied and sophisticated series possible, but also the virtuoso interpretation of that series that provided the opportunity of rivalling his idols. The chorale partita (BWV 766-770) is a special form of chorale arrangement, as the chorale (or hymn) serves as the starting point for a series of variations. The art of variation was at its peak in the seventeenth century. Usually, a folk song was taken as the starting point for a series of variations that increased in difficulty and speed. The genre was not restricted to keyboard instruments. The blind Dutch recorder and carillon player Jacob van Eyck was also a master in the art, for example. The five compositions by Bach bearing the name of chorale partita do not come from a single source, nor are they dated, but it is supposed that they originated in his teens and may have been revised later on. The Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" ("From Heaven above to Earth I come"), BWV 769, are a set of five variations in canon for organ with two manuals and pedals by Johann Sebastian Bach on the Christmas hymn by Martin Luther of the same name. The variations were prepared as a showpiece for Bach's entry as fourteenth member of Mizler's Music Society in Leipzig in 1747. The original printed edition of 1747, in which only one line of the canon was marked in the first three variations, was published by Balthasar Schmid in Nuremberg. Another version BWV 769a appears in the later autograph manuscript P 271, which also contains the six trio sonatas for organ BWV 525–530 and the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes BWV 651–668. In this later version Bach modified the order of the variations, moving the fifth variation into a central position, and wrote out all the parts in full, with some minor revisions to the score. Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonic_Variations_on_%2 2Vom_Himmel_hoch_da_komm%27_ich_her%22). Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created this Interpretation of the Alio Modo in Canone alla Quinta (Canon at the Fifth) Variation II (BWV 769 No. 2) from "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" (From Heaven above to Earth I come) for Flute & Oboe Duet. Sheet central : | Einige canonische Veränderungen über das Weihnachtslied: Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (8 sheet music) | |
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