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Track(s) taken from CDA67071/2

Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter, BWV650

composer
circa 1748/9; Schübler Chorale No 6; arrangement of Cantata 137 movement 2

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 16 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

David Goode (organ)
James Rhodes (piano)

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)
With this prelude, the underlying theme of the Schüblers comes full circle, with a return to the season of Advent and the new relationship with God, but with the sadness of experience rather than the joy of the bride. The chorale words ask: ‘Jesus, are you coming from heaven to earth now? Can my lamentation and trouble bring you to take human form?’

The chorale melody was—and is—more familiar as the tune of another hymn. In the cantata version an alto soloist sings the words ‘Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth’ from Lobe den Herren. The cantata (No 137) was first performed on the twelfth Sunday after Trinity in 1725, and the violin obbligato (or organ right hand) may portray the ‘eagles’ wings’ of the text, an image whose biblical resonances relate to Advent (Isaiah) and the Promised Land (Exodus).

from notes by Ian Carson © 1996

Mit diesem Präludium schließt die unterliegende Melodie der Schüblerschen Choräle einen Kreis, indem zur Adventszeit und einer neuen Beziehung zu Gott zurückgekehrt wird, die nun jedoch eher mit trauernder Erfahrung angefüllt ist, als mit der Freude der Braut Christi.

Die Choralmelodie war—und ist—als Melodie einer anderen Hymne eher bekannt. In der Kantatenversion singt ein Altsolo die Worte ‘Lobet den Herrn, der über allem so wunderbar herrscht’ aus Lobet den Herrn. Die Kantate (Nr. 137) wurde erstmals am zwölften Sonntag nach Trinitatis im Jahr 1725 gespielt, und die obligate Violine (oder die rechte Hand der Orgel) mag die ‘Adlerflügel’ des Textes porträtieren, ein Bild, dessen biblische Resonanz dem Advent (Jesaja) und dem Gelobten Land (2. Buch Mose) entspricht.

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

Other albums featuring this work

Bach: The Complete Organ Works
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Bach: The Complete Organ Works, Vol. 1
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Chopin & Bach: Vitamin C
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