Misplaced Pages

The Neumeister Collection is a compilation of 82 chorale preludes found in a manuscript copy produced by Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757–1840). When the manuscript was rediscovered at Yale University in the 1980s it appeared to contain 31 previously unknown early chorale settings by Johann Sebastian Bach, which were added to the BWV catalogue as Nos. 1090–1120, and published in 1985.

History

Neumeister compiled his manuscript after 1790. It has been suggested that the 77 earliest works in the collection may have been copied from a single source, possibly a Bach family album put together in J. S. Bach's early years. The five works by Neumeister's own music teacher, Georg Andreas Sorge, were a later addition.

Some time after 1807 the manuscript passed to Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770–1846), whose library was bought by Lowell Mason in 1852. After Mason's death in 1873, his collection was acquired by Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. There the Neumeister volume lay as manuscript LM 4708 until it was rediscovered "early in 1984" by musicologists Christoph Wolff (Harvard), Hans-Joachim Schulze (Bach-Archiv Leipzig), and librarian Harold E. Samuel (Yale). After satisfying themselves that the manuscript was genuine, they announced the discovery in December 1984. Their conclusions were confirmed in January 1985 by German organist Wilhelm Krumbach [de] (1937–2005), who had been working on the same material independently, and with a fatal lack of urgency, since 1981. Wolff acknowledged that he brought his announcement forward when he learned that Krumbach was in the field. Krumbach was unhappy with the way things turned out.

Works and composers

The Neumeister Collection contains 82 chorales, most of them unpublished before the 1980s re-evaluation of the Neumeister manuscript. The attribution of a few pieces in the manuscript remains uncertain:

• 3 by Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703), brother of Johann Michael and cousin of Johann Sebastian
• At least 24 by Johann Michael Bach (1648–1694), cousin and father-in-law of Johann Sebastian
• Around 38 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
• 1 by Daniel Erich (1649–1712)
• 1 or more by Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706)
• 5 by Georg Andreas Sorge (1703–1778)
• 1 possibly by Johann Gottfried Walther
• 4 by Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663–1712)
• 5 unattributed works

From the state of the manuscript Wolff concludes that the five unattributed works were written by composers represented elsewhere in the collection, whose names were omitted by accident. Weighing both textual and stylistic evidence, he proposes Johann Michael Bach as the author of all five, while allowing that one could also have been written by J. S. Bach and another by Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow.

Johann Michael Bach

The rediscovery of the Neumeister Collection quadrupled the number of keyboard works indisputably written by Johann Michael Bach, from eight to thirty-two, with six more arguably also his. Of the twenty-five pieces attributed to him in the manuscript, seven were known but had been credited to other composers and eighteen were entirely new, making this the largest single trove of his work. This remains the case even if, as some have suggested, one of the chorales that appears under his name would have been composed by Johann Heinrich Buttstett. Wolff has proposed that the five unattributed works in the volume could also be by Johann Michael Bach—confidently in three cases, less so in the other two.

Generally attributed to J. M. Bach:

1. Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, RISM 000105398
2. Meine Seele erhebt dem Herrn, RISM 000105399
3. Herr Christ der einig Gottes Sohn, RISM 000105400
4. Nun freut euch lieben Christen gemein (1), RISM 000105401, however also attributed to J. Pachelbel
5. Nun freut euch lieben Christen gemein (2), RISM 000105402
6. Gott hat das Evangelium (1), RISM 000105403
7. Gott hat das Evangelium (2), RISM 000105404
8. Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ, RISM 000105405, BWV 723, previously attributed to J. S. Bach.
9. Jesus Christus unser Heiland, RISM 000105420
10. O Herr Gott Vater in Ewigkeit, RISM 000105421
11. Der du bist drei in Einigkeit, RISM 000105423
12. Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, RISM 000105425
13. Mag ich Unglück nicht widerstahn, RISM 000105426
14. Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot, RISM 000105427
15. Auf meinen lieben Gott, RISM 000105434
16. Nun laßt uns Gott dem Herren, RISM 000105436
17. Kommt her zu mir spricht Gottes Sohn, RISM 000105439
18. Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt, RISM 000105442
19. Warum betrübst du dich mein Herz, RISM 000105443
20. Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, RISM 000105444
21. Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein, RISM 000105450
22. Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl, RISM 000105451
23. Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, RISM 000105452
24. Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist, RISM 000105460

Likely by J. M. Bach:

1. In dulci jubilo, RISM 000105409, BWV 751, partially attributed to J. S. Bach, possibly by J. G. Walther.

Possibly by J. M. Bach, the five anonymous preludes:

1. Christ lag in Todesbanden, RISM 000105419
2. Was mein Gott will das gescheh allzeit, RISM 000105438
3. Ich ruf' zu dir Herr Jesu Christ (in D minor), RISM 000105440
4. Ich ruf' zu dir Herr Jesu Christ (in G minor), RISM 000105441
5. Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn, RISM 000105459

Johann Sebastian Bach

The rediscovered manuscript prompted revisions to J. S. Bach's catalogue and reconsideration of his musical development. The collection contains 40 chorales with a BWV number:

• Nine chorales were listed in the 1950 first edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis: BWV 601, 639, 714, 719, 723, 737, 742, 751 and 957.
• 31 chorales, BWV 1090–1120, were assigned a number in the 1990 second edition of the catalogue.

Two chorales of the first edition of the BWV catalogue are no longer generally associated with J. S. Bach:

• Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 723: although retained in the main catalogue in the 1990s editions of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (not moved to the Anhang of either the doubtful or spurious works), it is often attributed to J. M. Bach, as it is in the Neumeister manuscript.
• In dulci jubilo, BWV 751: moved to BWV Anh. III (spurious works), it is attributed to J. M. Bach or J. G. Walther.

The other thirty-eight works are most often attributed to J. S. Bach, and are sometimes referred to as the Arnstädter Chorales. Five of them were already known from other sources:

• three in near-identical form:
  • Herr Christ, der ein'ge Gottes Sohn (or) Herr Gott, nun sei gepreiset, BWV 601, and Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639, from the Orgelbüchlein
  • Vater unser im Himmelreich, BWV 737.
• two in similar form:
  • Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich, BWV 719, wrongly attributed to J. Chr. Bach. This prelude is, in part, identical to Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich, P. 85 (T. 27), by J. Pachelbel.
  • Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BWV 742, wrongly attributed to Georg Böhm.

The other thirty-three were partly or wholly new:

• Two previously known only from fragments:
  • Ach Gott und Herr, BWV 714.
  • Machs mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt, BWV 957: the previously known part had been included as Fugue in G major in Bach's keyboard compositions.

• Thirty-one previously unknown works (BWV 1090–1120) now identified as the Neumeister Chorales Nos. 1–31 (including BWV 1096, a somewhat different version of which was known as J. Pachelbel's, from another source):

1. Wir Christenleut, BWV 1090
2. Das alte Jahr vergangen ist, BWV 1091
3. Herr Gott nun schleuß den Himmel auf, BWV 1092
4. Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen, BWV 1093
5. O Jesu, wie ist deine Gestalt, BWV 1094
6. O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, BWV 1095
7. Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht, BWV 1096, a.k.a. Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ, possibly by J. Pachelbel, moved to Anh. III (the annex of the spurious works) in BWV (1998). The Bach Digital website lists both Bach and Pachelbel as possible composers.
8. Ehre sei dir, Christe, der du leidest Not, BWV 1097
9. Wir glauben all an einen Gott, BWV 1098
10. Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu Dir, BWV 1099
11. Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 1100
12. Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, BWV 1101
13. Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 1102
14. Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 1103
15. Wenn dich Unglück tut greifen an, BWV 1104
16. Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 1105
17. Gott ist mein Heil, mein Hilf und Trost, BWV 1106
18. Jesu, meines Lebens Leben, BWV 1107
19. Als Jesus Christus in der Nacht, BWV 1108
20. Ach Gott, tu dich erbarmen, BWV 1109
21. Oh Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort, BWV 1110
22. Nun lasst uns den Leib begraben, BWV 1111
23. Christus, der ist mein Leben, BWV 1112
24. Ich hab mein Sach Gott heimgestellt, BWV 1113
25. Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut, BWV 1114
26. Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr, BWV 1115
27. Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 1116
28. Alle Menschen müssen sterben, BWV 1117
29. Werde munter mein Gemüte, BWV 1118
30. Wie nach einer Wasserquelle, BWV 1119
31. Christ, der du bist der helle Tag, BWV 1120

The Arnstädter Chorales are considered on stylistic grounds to be early works, probably dating from 1703 to 1707, when Bach was active at Arnstadt, and possibly even earlier. They provide a new window on his formative years as a composer and cast the chorale preludes in the Orgelbüchlein, previously considered his earliest essays in the form, in a fresh light: the Orgelbüchlein pieces are not the work of a precocious beginner, but of an already practised hand.

Publication

Wolff published the chorale preludes by J. S. Bach in 1985, and a facsimile of the complete collection in 1986. Scores of the other composers here: https://partitura.org/index.php/bach-johann-michael/

Entire Neumeister Collection

A facsimile of the entire collection was published in 1986. In the 21st century facsimile renderings of the Neumeister manuscript became available on the Bach Digital website.

21st-century editions of Johann Sebastian Bach's Neumeister Chorales

Christoph Wolff's 2003 edition Orgelchoräle der Neumeister-Sammlung (Organ Chorales from the Neumeister Collection), Score and Critical Commentary, Volume 9 of Series IV: Organ Works of the New Bach Edition (Neue Bach-Ausgabe, NBA), includes 36 chorales (BWV 714, 719, 737, 742, 957 and 1090–1120). Of the 40 Neumeister chorales with a BWV number, four are not included in this edition:

• BWV 601 and 639, well known from the Orgelbüchlein.
• BWV 723 and 751: likely not by Bach.

The NBA volume presented Bach's Neumeister Chorales in the order in which they occurred in the Neumeister manuscript. The 2018 last two volumes of Breitkopf & Härtel (B&H)'s new Urtext edition of Bach's organ works included them in alphabetical order, that is, together with other chorale preludes transmitted independently of the collections collated by the composer. The B&H edition includes 35 chorale preludes of the Neumeister Collection: apart from the four BWV numbers not adopted in the NBA edition, it additionally omits BWV 1096 (likely composed by J. Pachelbel).

Performances and recordings

The Bach chorales in the Neumeister Collection attracted the interest of organists even before they were published. They were first performed privately by Wilhelm Krumbach at Utrecht in January 1985, and publicly by John Ferris and Charles Krigbaum at Yale in March. Later the same year, Joseph Payne made the world-premiere recording for Harmonia Mundi at St. Paul's Church in Brookline, Massachusetts, working from a photostat of the Yale manuscript, and Werner Jacob made the first recording of the Wolff edition for EMI-Angel on a restored Johann Andreas Silbermann organ at Arlesheim cathedral.

Notes

1. ^ This is Johann Sebastian's cousin, Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703) of Eisenach, not his uncle Johann Christoph Bach (1645–1693) of Arnstadt, or his older brother and teacher Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721) of Orhdruf.

References

1. ^ Manuscript LM 4708 in Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (USA); the so-called Neumeister Collection. Accessed 2 March 2014.
2. Richard D. P. Jones, The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Volume 1, 1695–1717: Music to Delight the Spirit (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 74.
3. Jones 2002, p. 10
4. Wolff 1991, p. 110
5. ^ "Dispute over Bach discovery", The New York Times, 13 April 1985. Accessed 13 March 2014.
6. ^ Will Crutchfield, "Organ preludes attributed to Bach found at Yale", The New York Times, 19 December 1984. Accessed 13 March 2014.
7. ^ Stinson 1987, p. 353.
8. Christoph Wolff, "Bach's organ music: studies and discoveries", The Musical Times, vol. 126, no. 1705 (March, 1985), p. 152, n. 7.
9. "Opus 33: Who really found Bach preludes?" Chicago Tribune, 28 April 1985. Accessed 16 February 2015.
10. ^ US-NH LM 4708 (Ma21 Y11 A30) "Neumeister Collection" at Bach Digital website
11. David Schulenberg, A Bach Manuscript Recovered: Berlin, Bibliothek der Hochschule der Künste, Spitta Ms. 1491, typescript, 1998.
12. ^ Wolff 1991, p. 121
13. ^ RISM 000105397
14. RISM 000105398
15. RISM 000105399
16. RISM 000105400
17. RISM 000105401
18. RISM 000105402
19. RISM 000105403
20. RISM 000105404
21. ^ Work 00846 at Bach Digital website.
22. RISM 000105405
23. RISM 000105406
24. RISM 000105407
25. ^ Work 00841 at Bach Digital website.
26. ^ Work 00880 at Bach Digital website.
27. RISM 000105409
28. RISM 000105410
29. Work 01276 at Bach Digital website.
30. RISM 000105411
31. Work 01277 at Bach Digital website.
32. RISM 000105412
33. Work 01278 at Bach Digital website.
34. RISM 000105413
35. Work 01279 at Bach Digital website.
36. RISM 000105414
37. Work 01280 at Bach Digital website.
38. RISM 000105415
39. Work 01281 at Bach Digital website.
40. RISM 000105416
41. ^ Work 01282 at Bach Digital website.
42. RISM 000105417
43. Work 01283 at Bach Digital website.
44. RISM 000105418
45. RISM 000105419
46. RISM 000105420
47. RISM 000105421
48. RISM 000105422
49. RISM 000105423
50. RISM 000105424
51. RISM 000105425
52. RISM 000105426
53. RISM 000105427
54. Work 01284 at Bach Digital website.
55. RISM 000105428
56. Work 01285 at Bach Digital website.
57. RISM 000105429
58. Work 01286 at Bach Digital website.
59. RISM 000105430
60. RISM 000105431
61. ^ Work 00836 at Bach Digital website.
62. RISM 000105432
63. ^ Work 00870 at Bach Digital website.
64. RISM 000105433
65. RISM 000105434
66. Work 01287 at Bach Digital website.
67. RISM 000105435
68. RISM 000105436
69. Work 01288 at Bach Digital website.
70. RISM 000105437
71. RISM 000105438
72. RISM 000105439
73. RISM 000105440
74. RISM 000105441
75. RISM 000105442
76. RISM 000105443
77. RISM 000105444
78. Work 01289 at Bach Digital website.
79. RISM 000105445
80. ^ Work 00864 at Bach Digital website.
81. RISM 000105446
82. Work 01290 at Bach Digital website.
83. RISM 000105447
84. Work 01291 at Bach Digital website.
85. RISM 000105448
86. Work 01292 at Bach Digital website.
87. RISM 000105449
88. RISM 000105450
89. RISM 000105451
90. RISM 000105452
91. RISM 000105453
92. Work 01293 at Bach Digital website.
93. RISM 000105454
94. Work 01294 at Bach Digital website.
95. RISM 000105455
96. Work 01295 at Bach Digital website.
97. RISM 000105456
98. Work 01296 at Bach Digital website.
99. RISM 000105457
100. RISM 000105458
101. RISM 000105459
102. RISM 000105460
103. Work 01297 at Bach Digital website.
104. RISM 000105461
105. Work 01298 at Bach Digital website.
106. RISM 000105462
107. Work 01299 at Bach Digital website.
108. RISM 000105463
109. ^ Work 01300 at Bach Digital website.
110. RISM 000105464
111. ^ Work 01301 at Bach Digital website.
112. RISM 000105465
113. ^ Work 01302 at Bach Digital website.
114. RISM 000105466
115. ^ Work 01303 at Bach Digital website.
116. RISM 000105467
117. ^ Work 01134 at Bach Digital website.
118. RISM 000105468
119. Work 01304 at Bach Digital website.
120. RISM 000105469
121. Work 01305 at Bach Digital website.
122. RISM 000105470
123. RISM 000105471
124. Work 01306 at Bach Digital website.
125. RISM 000105472
126. RISM 000105473
127. ^ Work 00727 at Bach Digital website.
128. RISM 000105474
129. ^ Work 00684 at Bach Digital website.
130. RISM 000105475
131. RISM 000105476
132. RISM 000105477
133. RISM 000105478
134. RISM 000105479
135. Wolff 1991, p. 116
136. Jones 2002, pp. 3–4
137. Stinson 1993, p. 456
138. Jones 2002, Chs. 1 and 2.
139. Perreault 2004, No. 85 (p. 63)
140. Peter Williams. The Organ Music of J.S. Bach (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 9780521814164, p. 549.
141. Perreault 2004, No. 63 (p. 56)
142. Günter Hartmann, "Authentischer Bach-Elbel: Marginalie zu einem der angeblichen Bach-Choräle der Neumeister-Sammlung", p. 4 in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 1986, Heft 4
143. BWV (1998), pp. 349 and 468
144. Stinson 1993, p. 457.
145. ^ Johann Sebastian Bach, Orgelchoräle der Neumeister-Sammlung / Organ Chorales from the Neumeister Collection, edited by Christoph Wolff (New Haven and Kassel: Yale University Press and Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1985), later appearing as Johann Sebastian Bach: Neue Ausgabe sämtliche Werke, Series IV: Organ Works Volume 9: Orgelchoräle der Neumeister-Sammlung (Organ Chorales from the Neumeister Collection), Score and Critical Commentary (Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag for the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Institut, Göttingen and the Bach-Archiv, Leipzig, 2003).
146. ^ Christoph Wolff (ed.), The Neumeister Collection of Chorale Preludes from the Bach Circle (Yale University Library LM 4708): A Facsimile Edition (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986).
147. ^ Reinmar Emans and Matthias Schneider, editors (2018). "Individually transmitted Choral Settings" in Vol. 9 and 10 of Johann Sebastian Bach: Complete Organ Works – Urtext; New Edition in 10 Volumes. Breitkopf & Härtel.
148. Eleanor Charles, "Bach works make debut today", The New York Times, 17 March 1985. Accessed 13 March 2014.
149. Allen Hughes, "New Bach chorale-preludes vie for favor", The New York Times, 15 September 1985. Accessed 13 March 2014.

Sources

• Sara Ann Jones. The Neumeister Collection of Chorale Preludes of the Bach Circle: An Examination of the Chorale Preludes of J.S. Bach and Their Usage as Service Music and Pedagogical Works, Doctor of Musical Arts Dissertation, Louisiana State University, 2002
• Jean M. Perreault, edited by Donna K. Fitch. The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Pachelbel. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8108-4970-4,
• Russell Stinson. "Review: The Neumeister Collection of Chorale Preludes from the Bach Circle (Yale University Manuscript LM 4708) by Johann Sebastian Bach – Orgelchoräle der Neumeister-Sammlung / Organ Chorales from the Neumeister Collection by Johann Sebastian Bach, Christoph Wolff" pp. 352–361 in Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 40 No. 2, Summer, 1987.
• Russell Stinson, "Some thoughts on Bach's Neumeister Chorales" in The Journal of Musicology, vol. 11, no. 4 (Autumn, 1993)
• Christoph Wolff (1991). "The Neumeister Collection of chorale preludes from the Bach circle", in Bach: Essays on His Life and Music New Haven, CT: Harvard University Press.

External links

• Neumeister Chorales, BWV 1090–1120 (by J. S. Bach): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• J.S. Bach's Neumeister Chorales performed by James Kibbie on historic German baroque organs
• Scores of the other composers here: https://partitura.org/index.php/bach-johann-michael/

• Classical Music

• Baroque compositions
• Compositions for organ
• Chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach