About this work
The portion of the Clavier-Übung often called the ‘Lutheran Mass’ does not narrate a continuous instrumental mass. It gathers preludes based on chorales from the Kyrie, Gloria and catechism. Each piece transforms an existing melody through counterpoint, ornamentation or a particular disposition of voices.
Several chorales appear in versions of different scale and design. Larger settings often give the cantus firmus and pedals a monumental role; smaller ones concentrate the work in writing more immediately legible on the manuals. Comparing these treatments reveals Bach’s variety far better than one uniform registration for the whole collection.
Before playing, locate the chorale melody, the voice carrying it and the motifs surrounding it. Practise cadences in the cantus firmus separately, then restore them to the counterpoint. Plan registrations and changes of manual by families of pieces while allowing each prelude its own articulation.
What the document containsDocument: The document contains 58 pages in PDF format. No MIDI file is currently attached to this historical record. The PDF gathers the chorale preludes BWV 669 to 689 from the Clavier-Übung, with varied textures and pedal requirements.The historical record marks the work and file as public domain but does not document the editor or exact provenance of this copy. The file preserved by LesPartitions.info can be compared with the reference catalogue. Following that check, LesPartitions.info separates established facts from information that remains incomplete.