Organ Recital & Lecture
Louis van der Watt

Programme notes:

J. S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in Eb, BWV 552, from the Clavierübung, Part III

JS Bach’s Clavierübung (“Keyboard Practice/Exercise”) Part III is the most extensive work that he published in his lifetime (1739, but evidence exists that he may have started work on this project as early as 1735). It is also the single most important collection of organ works that he compiled. (His Clavierübung Parts I, II and IV are written for harpsichord and consist of respectively the 6 Partitas, the Italian Concerto and Overture in the French Style, and the Goldberg Variations.) The important Bach scholar Christoph Wolff states the following: “In [the Clavierübung] part III, Bach created not only his most extensive but also his most significant organ work.”

The matrix of the Clavierübung Part III is Luther’s chorale texts on the basic beliefs of the Reformation as also worded in his Greater and Lesser Catechism, for example the Doctrine of the Trinity, the Ten Commandments, the rite of Baptism, etc. As such, it also stands in close relation to the Lutheran worship service, with its various liturgical moments such as confession of sins, confession of faith, recital/singing of the Our Father prayer, etc. In the words of Charles Sanford Terry: “Bach’s purpose in it was, to illustrate the Lutheran Catechism by Preludes treating the melodies of Luther’s familiar hymns on the Commandments, Creed, Prayer, Baptism, Penitence, and Holy Communion, prefacing his exposition of Lutheran dogma with a triple invocation of the Trinity…” Bach’s collection is thus a representation and interpretation in sound of these central tenets of Lutheran dogma, embodied in 21 (7×3) chorale preludes.

The collection is the culmination point of all techniques, genres and styles for organ, and could also be taken as Bach’s personal confession of faith. “In no other work for organ do we experience Bach to such an extent as musical presenter and profound interpreter of the basics of the Lutheran faith as here” (Hermann Keller).

Like book-ends, the Prelude and Fugue BWV 552 stand respectively at the beginning and at the end of the entire collection, being nothing less than Bach’s interpretation through the medium of music of the Doctrine of the Trinity. The key is Eb major (3 flats), the Prelude consists of 9 (3×3) subsections and the Fugue of 3 fugal subsections, each of which is a representation of one of the three Persons of the Trinity. The total number of works included in the collection is 27 (3x3x3).

There exists a consensus among all noteworthy Bach scholars regarding the Prelude and Fugue. Keller calls it “one of the brightest jewels” in Bach’s art. Philipp Spitta describes it as one of Bach’s “stupendous creations, in which [is] embodied the highest qualities that Bach could put into this branch of art.” Regarding the Fugue, Albert Riemenschneider claims that “[it] is without doubt one of his most marvellous creations.” Hubert Parry observes the following: “The Fugue is certainly one of the most perfect and finished of Bach’s works of the kind…manifesting a gradual growth of complexity and vivacity up to the majestic and imposing close.”

A short discussion of Bach’s treatment of the Doctrine of the Trinity as embodied in the Fugue will take place between the performance of the Prelude and the Fugue.