As a craftsman obliged to fulfil the terms of his
employment, Bach provided music suited to his various
appointments. It was natural that his earlier work as
an organist and something of an expert on the
construction of organs, should result in music for that
instrument. At Cöthen, where the Pietist leanings of
the court made church music unnecessary, he provided a
quantity of instrumental music for the court orchestra
and its players. In Leipzig he began by composing
series of cantatas for the...(+)
As a craftsman obliged to fulfil the terms of his
employment, Bach provided music suited to his various
appointments. It was natural that his earlier work as
an organist and something of an expert on the
construction of organs, should result in music for that
instrument. At Cöthen, where the Pietist leanings of
the court made church music unnecessary, he provided a
quantity of instrumental music for the court orchestra
and its players. In Leipzig he began by composing
series of cantatas for the church year, later turning
his attention to instrumental music for the Collegium
musicum of the University, and to the collection and
ordering of his own compositions.
The so-called Kirnberger Collection (BWV 690-713), a
title now generally ignored in recent editions, is a
collection of music by Bach copied by or for his pupil
Johann Philipp Kirnberger. The latter was born in
Saalfeld in 1721 and educated in Coburg and Cotha,
before, in 1739, travelling to Leipzig for lessons in
composition and performance with Bach. After a period
spent in Poland, he returned to Dresden, moving then to
Berlin as a violinist in the Prussian royal service. In
1754 he entered the service of Prince Heinrich of
Prussia and four years later that of Princess Anna
Amalia, remaining in this last position until his death
in Berlin in 1783. Kirnberger had the highest regard
for Bach, and did his utmost to bring about the
posthumous publication of the latter's four-part
chorale settings.
The date of composition of this work probably falls in
the Weimar period (1708-1717), though it may originate
in the several years immediately before, as far back as
1703. Bach wrote five other chorale preludes for organ
based on the theme in the chorale "Liebster Jesu, wir
sind hier" (Dearest Jesus, We Are Here), two of which
are in the Orgelbüchlein (BWV 633 and 634), and three
not part of any set (BWV 730, 731, and 754). Like most
of Bach's other chorale preludes, all of these efforts
are short, and thus, the minute-and-a-half or
two-minute length of this BWV 706 effort is not
unusual. Bach tended to treat this chorale theme in an
ethereal or celestial sort of manner in his adaptations
of it for organ. The two in the Orgelbüchlein, for
instance, are almost identical twins and are fine
examples of this approach. Here, in BWV 706, the tone
is subdued and while the mood could be described as
ethereal, it might more aptly be called solemn and
reverential in its gentleness. Not that the music is
stiff sounding, but Bach presents the lovely theme in a
straightforward manner, with slow pacing and
contrapuntal writing that blends rather than
italicizes.
I created this Transcription of the Chorale Prelude
(BWV 708 & 708a) "Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt"
(I have left all that concerns me up to God) for Pipe
Organ.
PARTITION