About this work
This selection of twenty chorales does not tell a continuous story. Instead, it opens twenty small windows onto Bach’s workshop. The Lutheran melody remains the starting point, but its treatment keeps changing. In one piece it moves in nearly homophonic chords; in another it emerges above a web of voices, or passes to the pedal while the hands provide a commentary.
The BWV numbers in the title cover a wider area of the catalogue than the contents of this volume alone. Before studying a piece, note its exact number, the name of the chorale and the position of the cantus firmus. This prevents every page from receiving the same registration and character—an excellent method only if the aim is to turn twenty chorales into one very long one.
Sing the melody before placing your hands on the organ. Then decide which voice must lead and lighten the others without making them lifeless. Cadences need shared breathing, while the pedal should sustain the phrase without accenting every change of note. Two or three well-chosen registrations are often enough to reveal the differences in texture.
What the document contains
twenty organ chorales gathered in one volume;
an 80-page PDF;
no separate MIDI file.
The volume is a compilation. Check the BWV number printed at the beginning of each piece before citing it in a programme or concert note.