Schübler Chorales is a name usually given to the Sechs
Chorale von verschiedener Art ('Six Chorales of Various
Kinds') for organ (BWV 645–650), a collection of six
chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach, issued
around 1748. The title 'Schübler Chorales' derives
from the engraver and publisher Johann Georg Schübler,
who is named on the title page. All six of the preludes
are for an organ with two manuals and pedal, at least
five of them transcribed from movements in Bach's
cantatas, mostl...(+)
Schübler Chorales is a name usually given to the Sechs
Chorale von verschiedener Art ('Six Chorales of Various
Kinds') for organ (BWV 645–650), a collection of six
chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach, issued
around 1748. The title 'Schübler Chorales' derives
from the engraver and publisher Johann Georg Schübler,
who is named on the title page. All six of the preludes
are for an organ with two manuals and pedal, at least
five of them transcribed from movements in Bach's
cantatas, mostly chorale cantatas.
Since no source has been found for BWV 646, most
scholars assume that the source cantata is one of the
100 or so believed to have been lost. The trio scoring
of the movement suggests the original may have been for
violin, or possibly violins and violas in unison (right
hand), and continuo (left hand), with the chorale
(pedal) sung by soprano or alto.
Bach spent the last 27 years of his life as Cantor at
the School of St. Thomas, in Leipzig, which effectively
put him in charge of the city's religious music, for he
supervised all five of the main churches. A "Chorale"
or "Chorale Prelude" is an elaboration on a hymn tune,
with the main melody being clearly stated and
perceivable by the average church-goer. This is so that
when the hymn itself is sung a bit later in the
service, the congregation would already have heard the
tune. This lot of six of them got their collective name
for the simple reason that an acquaintance of Bach's,
one J.G. Schübler, published them. Bach seems to have
chosen them to represent a variety of techniques, to be
suitable for the amateur market, but to possess
sufficient technical and musical demands to make
playing them interesting. In short, they might well
have been picked because the composer thought they had
variety and popular appeal. For these reasons, they
make an excellent introduction to Bach's organ music in
general and to the chorale prelude form in
particular.
The fact that Bach had gone to the trouble and expense
of securing the services of a master engraver to
produce a collection of note-for-note transcriptions of
this kind indicates that he did not regard the
Schübler Chorales as a minor piece of hack-work, but
as a significant public statement. These six chorales
provide an approachable version of the music of the
cantatas through the more marketable medium of keyboard
transcriptions. Virtually all Bach's cantatas were
unpublished in his lifetime
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%BCbler_Chorales).
Although originally created for Organ, I created this
Interpretation of Schübler Chorale (BWV 645) "Wachet
auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (Wake, Awake for Night is
Passing) for Flute, Oboe & Cello.
