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Composer's Note:
Bach's organ chorale preludes are settings of Lutheran hymns, used probably to introduce the congregational singing. The congregation would naturally have known all the tunes, and all the words and their implications would have been as vivid to them as to Bach. In all five preludes arranged in this anthology, the chorale appears relatively unadorned in the top voice, while the lower three voices provide harmonic support in various styles. This edition contains minimal editing; bowings and fingerings have been added only to facilitate reading, and despite their general conformance with current ideas on Baroque practice they should not be considered the only possibilities. Tempos, as in the original, are left to the performers' discretion. However, it is suggested that they be slow enough for the listener to discern harmonic and contrapuntal events, yet fast enough for the tune to be recognized.
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Alle Menschen müssen sterben (All men must die) is the most direct of the set, the three
lower voices providing an active accompaniment based on one simple motive.
Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lay in the bonds of death) is similar in motivic treatment,
but more chromatic, reflecting the mood of the text and perhaps suggesting a slower tempo.
In dulci jubilo (In sweet joy) is a remarkable setting of a tune familiar to most people today
as a Christmas carol. The tune appears in canon at the octave in the outer two voices, while
an accompanying line, also in canon, is presented by the inner two voices.
Nun danket Alle Gott (Now thank we all our God) is a hymn still currently used in many
Protestant churches. Phrases from the tune appear in short imitative expositions in the lower
three voices before appearing unadorned in the top voice.
The legend surrounding the composition of Vor deinen Thron tret' ich (Before Thy throne I
stand) is as remarkable as the piece itself.