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Track(s) taken from CDA67071/2

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV645

composer
circa 1748/9; Schübler Chorale No 1; arrangement of Cantata 140 movement 4

Christopher Herrick (organ)
Recording details: April 1995
Jesuitenkirche, Lucerne, Switzerland
Produced by Paul Spicer
Engineered by Paul Niederberger
Release date: April 1996
Total duration: 3 minutes 35 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

David Goode (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)
As the season of Trinity in the church reached its end and Bach’s Lutheran congregation looked forward to Advent and the new church year, Philipp Nicolai’s hymn proclaimed ‘Sleepers, wake!’, and urged them further: ‘Arise, the bridegroom is coming, prepare for the wedding!’—a call to which Zion, as the bride, responds. The chorale appeared in Cantata No 140, performed in the Thomaskirche on the twenty-seventh Sunday after Trinity, 1731. The fourth movement of the cantata is the same music as this prelude, played by strings and continuo, with the chorale melody in the tenor. The organ version is a lively trio which mirrors the joyful expectancy of the words, with the chorale resounding through the brilliance of the obbligato.

from notes by Ian Carson © 1996

Als sich die Zeit der Trinitatisfeierlichkeiten ihrem Ende näherte, und Bachs lutherische Kirchengemeinde der Adventszeit und dem neuen Jahr entgegensah, verkündete Philipp Nicolais Hymne: ‘Schlafende, erwachet!’ und drängte weiter: ‘Erhebet Euch, der Bräutigam kommt, bereitet die Hochzeit!’—ein Ruf, auf den Zion als Braut Gottes antwortet. Der Choral erschien in der Kantate Nr. 140, die 1731 am siebenundzwanzigsten Sonntag nach Trinitatis, uraufgeführt wurde. Der vierte Satz der Kantate, gespielt von Streichern und Continuo, enthält die gleiche Musik wie das Präludium, während die Choralmelodie von der Tenorstimme gesungen wird. Die Orgelversion ist ein lebhaftes Trio, das die freudvoll verheißenden Worte widerspiegelt, während im Choral die Brillianz des Obligato widerhallt.

aus dem Begleittext von Ian Carson © 1996
Deutsch: Ute Mansfeldt

Other albums featuring this work

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. 1
Studio Master: SIGCD800Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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