Compositions
by the young Bach present many challenging and fascinating problems. There
are questions concerning chronological order, compositional and stylistic
influence, and often questions regarding authenticity. These questions
also lead to performance practice issues of registration (stop selection)
and musical interpretation. While it is impossible to arrive at complete
answers, current research and new recordings make it possible to reach
historically informed decisions. John Brombaugh’s organ at Central
Lutheran Church in Eugene, Oregon is an ideal instrument on which to
explore these performance practice issues.
The
young Bach is known to have had only one real teacher. The words of
Bach’s obituary refer to Bach’s older brother Johann Christoph of
Ohrdruf from who “he learned the fundamentals of clavier playing.”
Bach, however, probably learned from many masters, including Georg Böhm
of Lüneburg, Diedrich Buxtehude in Lübeck, and Jan Adam Reinken in
Hamburg. His compositions incorporate elements of almost every musical
style encountered during his life. Bach’s characteristic of copying,
modifying and integrating musical ideas into his own personal style began
with the music on this recording.
Bach
probably composed his first free organ works as an organist in Arnstadt
and Mühlhausen. Both the Prelude and Fugue in C-Major (BWV 531) and the
e-minor Toccata (BWV 914) show youthful characteristics through their
varied textures and multiplicity of styles. The C-Major Prelude and Fugue
was probably composed between 1700-1705, and is clearly written in the
style derived from the north German Praeludium. The opening pedal solo in
particular is very similar to Georg Böhm’s own Praeludium in C major.
However, Bach is already asserting his own version of the form, with an
extended prelude, followed by an extended fugue, instead of the usual four
or more sections, connected by bridge passages.
The
partita on O Gott, du frommer Gott (BWV 767) is also similar to those of Böhm,
and demonstrates competence in a variety of styles through a succession of
variations. Because this partita has no pedal, some have attributed it to
Bach’s years as a schoolboy in Lüneburg. The absence of pedal parts
leads others to suggest that the Partita was originally composed to be
playable on both clavichord and organ. The first variation (Partita 2) of
O Gott, du frommer Gott is an
instrumental duo, in imitation of a duo for two string instruments. Harald
Vogel has chosen two “Principal” stops, causing each line to sound
independent, yet related by tonal color. The third partita uses the figure
suspirans (an upbeat of ascending sixteenth notes) to create a sense of
motion. The figure can easily be imitated, and is elaborated through
inversion and retrograde inversion. The suspirans motive is developed
further in the fifth partita into longer scalar sections. This an obvious
Böhm influence, seen in his Ach wie nichtig and other partita settings.
The last partita imitates the texture of an Italian concerto with forte
and piano sections. Harald Vogel plays the piano sections on the Brustwerk
division, with the doorshalf-open. This variation also contains beautiful
text-painting: a sudden slowing to andante towards the end probably refers
to line 7 of the chorale “…and lead [my body] beautifully
transformed” (‘und führ ihn schön verklärt’).
Herr
Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend (BWV 709) is found in the Kirnberger
collection of chorale preludes and was composed before 1713. Although no
autograph manuscript exists, the long notes at the beginning of each
chorale line again suggest Böhm as the influential model. This chorale
contains a complete statement of the melody in the soprano without
interludes. The soprano line is
The
Neumeister chorales are contained within a larger manuscript (LM 4708 of
Yale University) compiled by Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1756-1840) after
1790. Neumeister was a pupil of Georg Andreas Sorge (1703-1778) who was a
colleague of J.S. Bach. The original manuscript contains 82 chorales by
various composers, 38 of which have been recently attributed to Bach.
Although some still question the authenticity of these works, the chorales
seem to fit Bach’s style in terms of contrapuntal elaboration, motivic
development and design. Because of notational characteristics and the
spare use of pedal (mostly in a non-obligato manner) the manuscript may be
dated to Bach’s earliest compositional period, before he was 20 (1705).
Harald
Vogel chooses an imaginative registration for Wie nach einer Wasserquelle
(BWV 1119). Although scored without a pedal part, he plays the cantus
firmus in the pedal on the 2’ Nachthorn. This special wide-scaled flute
sounds two octaves higher than where it is played, causing it to play the
chorale melody at soprano pitch. The Vox Humana stop provides a striking
contrast with the pedal flute solo stop. Finally, Vogel gives the
expressive ornamented passage at the end of the chorale its own voice on
the Ruckpositiv.
Imitation
through echoes provide more opportunities for creative registrations in
Christ, der du bist der helle Tag (BWV 1120). BWV 742, Ach Herr, mich
armen Sünder, is finally attributed to Bach through the discovery of the
Neumeister collection. This chorale prelude was known before the discovery
of the Neumeister manuscript (thus the earlier BWV number) but its
attribution to J.S. Bach was questionable.
Harald
Vogel’s interpretation of “The Eight Little Preludes and Fugues”
perhaps Bach’s most frequently played organ works, models a variety of
performance ideas, just as the pieces themselves form a compendium of
compositional treatments of the musical form. This performance of “The
Eight” can be compared with Harald Vogel’s recording of these pieces
on the pedal clavichord (The Bach Circle, Volume I: Loft Recordings LRCD
2101).
From
this collection of pieces, we learn that the young Bach had significant
mentors in Böhm, Buxtehude and Reinken. His music is full of tributes to
their compositional style, yet Bach, even as a young man, has already
struck out on his own stylistic path. The treatment of chorales, and the
monolithic prelude and fugue typical of all his later works, indicate that
Bach is well on the way to establishing a distinctive voice in 18th
century music.
-Abbey
Hallberg Siegfried
