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Track(s) taken from CDA67071/2

Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV659

composer
1708/17; revised into Leipzig Chorales collection, the '18' circa 1744/7

Christopher Herrick (organ)
Recording details: April 1995
Jesuitenkirche, Lucerne, Switzerland
Produced by Paul Spicer
Engineered by Paul Niederberger
Release date: April 1996
Total duration: 4 minutes 20 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts
David Goode (organ)
Joseph Nolan (organ)
George Herbert (organ)

Reviews

‘Not only has Herrick found a simply ravishing Swiss organ which he uses with impeccable good taste, but the Hyperion team have come up with a top-notch recording. Once again they've given us a disc which combines consummate musical insight and technical mastery with sheer unalloyed listening pleasure’ (Gramophone)

‘Herrick has once again shown that his command of the Bach idiom is as total as any other contemporary organist's … an impressive addition to a milestone collection’ (Classic CD)

‘An indispensable collection and one I should not be happy to be without’ (Organists' Review)

‘Bach at his most tuneful and diverting and Herrick's style is particularly suited to them’ (Soundscapes, Australia)
BWV659 is one of the jewels of the collection, whether seen in the textures (the walking bass), the harmony (fluid inner parts, effortless sequences, and beautifully crafted suspensions), or the expressively ornamented chorale. Of the three settings, the current performer sees the first as representative specifically of the birth of Christ. The G minor key matches some of the greatest utterances on the organ for Bach—the ‘Sei gegrüsset partita’, the Fantasia and Fugue—and the cantus lines emphasise ascent, even when the chorale phrase doesn’t; perhaps a surprising emphasis given the text, which references the descent of the Saviour in the Incarnation. The inner parts are typically dense in motifs that are traceable both to the chorale and to the ornamented cantus firmus line. There are four phrases, with long episodes in between, giving a meditative focus. Note the beautiful harmonic sequences found throughout this setting, which is a feature of the writing of all three ‘Nun komm’ settings.

from notes by George Parsons © 2017

Other albums featuring this work

A Bach Album
CDA67247
Advent Live, Vol. 3
Studio Master: SIGCD768Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Bach: The Complete Organ Works
CDS44121/3616CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
Bach: The Complete Organ Works, Vol. 4
Studio Master: SIGCD8042CDs Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
The organ of St Bavo, Haarlem
Studio Master: SIGCD546Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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