Orgelbüchlein, by J. S. Bach

The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book") is a set of 46 organ chorales composed by Bach while he was working in Weimar, around 1714. Unlike the lengthy chorales found in the Clavierübung III or the Eighteen, these are small-scale works that present the chorale melody without intervening episodes. Originally, Bach planned a much larger set of some 165 pieces, but only completed about a third of them. They generally trace the church year form Advent to Pentecost, with a few miscellaneous chorales at the end.

Within the compact form of these works, some less than a minute long, is a wealth of musical inventiveness. They are meat and potatoes pieces for the beginning organist, and they are wonderfully evocative of the texts. These realizations are orchestrated in a way that I hope is both a new listening experience, but which is also respectful to the original music and the sacred texts on which it is based.

The links below take you to an MP3 player to listen to the work, as well as a link to download it. Encoding is 192 Kbps. Also included with each piece is a narrative including the origin of the hymn, the cantus firmus so you can follow the chorale melody during the piece (being aware that in numerous cases Bach varies the rhythm and occasionally the notes), its current usage in the Episcopal hymnal (if any), a translation of the first verse, and remarks on Bach's treatment of the chorale. Since there are fewer than 46 links below, this collection is obviously a work in progress. The MP3s below that appear on my CD The Trinity According to Bach are remixes of those tracks.


Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 599	1.61 MB	1:10
Gottes Sohn ist Kommen, BWV 600	1.58 MB	1:09
Herr Christ, der einge Gottes-Sohn, BWV 601	1.88 MB	1:22
Lob sei dem Allmächtigen Gott, BWV 602	1.31 MB	0:57
Puer natus in Bethlehem, BWV 603	1.75 MB	1:16
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 604	2.05 MB	1:29
Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich, BWV 605	2.34 MB	1:42
Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her, BWV 606	0.75 MB	0:32
Vom Himmel kam der Engel Schar, BWV 607	1.57 MB	1:08
Wir Christenleut, BWV 612	2.98 MB	2:10
Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf, BWV 617	3.84 MB	2:48
Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn, BWV 630	1.67 MB	1:13
Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, BWV 632	1.29 MB	0:56
Vater unser im Himmelreich, BWV 636	1.88 MB	1:22

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
The greatest of them all

"Who's your favorite composer?" is as tired a question as "Whomever I'm listening to at the moment" is an answer. If pressed, however, and with apologies to Ludwig, Wolfgang, Pyotr, and all the other greats, I would give the nod to Bach. His supreme blending of beauty, logic, and inventiveness has never been surpassed, and much of my avocational music-making is devoted to listening, learning, and making synthesized realizations of his music.