page_title: Orgelbüchlein
section_title: Miscellaneous BWV 639–644
hierarchical_section_title: Orgelbüchlein / Chorale Preludes BWV 599–644 / Miscellaneous BWV 639–644
caption_attribution_description: detail
context_page_description: The Orgelbüchlein BWV 599−644 is a set of 45 chorale preludes for organ — one of them is given in two versions — by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as organist to the ducal court in Weimar; the remainder and a short two-bar fragment came no earlier than 1726, after the composer’s appointment as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
  The plan was for a collection of 164 settings of chorale tunes sung during the Church year so that each part of the year was represented. Although this number was not to be, the Orgelbüchlein does span the calendar and more importantly signals a maturity and new breadth in Bach’s compositional style, not only with regard to this instrument.
  Each setting takes an existing Lutheran chorale, adds a motivic accompaniment, and quite freely explores form. Many of the preludes are short and in four parts, requiring only a single keyboard and pedal, with an unadorned cantus firmus. Others involve two keyboards and pedal. These include several canons, four ornamental four-part preludes with elaborately decorated chorale lines, and one prelude in trio sonata form.
context_section_description: BWV 639 Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ [I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ] a 2 Clav. et Ped. play MIDI  • play MP3
  Below is the first verse of Johann Agricola's hymn with the English translation of John Christian Jacobi.
  Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ,
  ich bitt, erhör mein Klagen;
  verleih mir Gnad zu dieser Frist,
  laß mich doch nicht verzagen.
  Den rechten Glauben, Herr, ich mein,
  den wollest du mir geben,
  dir zu leben,
  meim Nächsten nütz zu sein,
  dein Wort zu halten eben.
  Lord, hear the voice of my complaint,
  To Thee I now commend me,
  Let not my heart and hope grow faint,
  But deign Thy grace to send me.
  True faith from Thee, my God, I seek,
  The faith that loves Thee solely.
  Keeps me lowly,
  And prompt to aid the weak,
  And mark each word that Thou dost speak.
  "Ich ruf zu dir" is amongst the most popular chorale preludes in the collection. Pure in style, this ornamental chorale prelude has been described as "a supplication in time of despair." Written in the meantone key of F minor, it is the unique prelude in trio form with voices in the two manuals and the pedal. It is possible that the unusual choice of key followed Bach's experience playing the new organ at Halle which employed more modern tuning. The ornamented melody in crotchets (quarter notes) sings in the soprano above a flowing legato semiquaver (16th note) accompaniment and gently pulsating repeated quavers (eighth notes) in the pedal continuo.  Such viol-like semiquaver figures  in the middle voice already appeared as "imitatio violistica" in the Tabalutara nova (1624) of Samuel Scheidt. The instrumental combination itself was used elsewhere by Bach: in the third movement of the cantata Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 180 for soprano, violoncello piccolo and continuo; and the 19th movement of the St John Passion, with the middle voice provided by semiquaver arpeggios on the lute.
  A close variant of BWV 639 is catalogued as BWV Anh. 73, an expanded arrangement for organ, attributed to the composer's son C.P.E. Bach.
   BWV 640 In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr [In you have I put my hope, Lord] play MIDI  • play MP3
  Below is the first verse of the Lutheran hymn In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr of Adam Reissner with the English translation of Catherine Winkworth.
  In dich hab' ich gehoffet, Herr,
  hilf, daß ich nicht zuschanden werd'
  noch ewiglich zu Spotte!
  Das bitt' ich dich,
  erhalte mich
  in deiner Treu', mein Gotte!
  In Thee, Lord, have I put my trust,
  Leave me not helpless in the dust,
  Let not my hope be brought to shame,
  But still sustain,
  Through want and pain.
  My faith that Thou art aye the same.
  The text of the hymn is derived from the first six lines of Psalm 31 and was associated with two different melodies, in major and minor keys. The hymn tune in the major key was used many times by Bach, most notably in the funeral cantata BWV 106, the Christmas Oratorio and the St. Matthew Passion. BWV 640 is the only occasion he used the melody in the minor key, which can be traced back to an earlier reformation hymn tune for Christ ist erstanden and medieval plainsong for Christus iam resurrexit.
  In Bach's chorale prelude BWV 640, the cantus firmus is in the soprano voice, several times held back for effect. Beneath it the two inner voices—often in thirds—and the pedal provide an accompaniment based on a motif derived from the melody, a falling three-note anapaest consisting of two semiquavers and a quaver. The motif is passed imitatively down through the voices, often developing into more flowing passages of semiquavers; the motif in the pedal has an added quaver and—punctuated by rests—is more fragmentary. The harmonies resulting from the combined voices produce a hymn-like effect. Schweitzer (1905) described the anapaest as a "joy" motif; to Hermann Keller it symbolised "constancy". For Williams (2003), the angular motifs and richer subdued textures in the lower registers are consonant with the "firm hope" of the text, in contrast to more animated evocations of joy.
   BWV 641 Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein [When we are in the greatest distress] a 2 Clav. et Ped. play
caption: Martin Schongauer, Noli me tangere
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