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55-509: Early versions of almost all the chorale preludes are thought to date back to 1710–1714, during the period 1708–1717 when Bach served as court organist and Konzertmeister (director of music) in Weimar , at the court of Wilhelm Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Weimar . As a result of encouragement from the Duke, a devout Lutheran and music lover, Bach developed secular and liturgical organ works in all forms, in what

110-532: A motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music . According to the English musicologist Margaret Bent , "a piece of music in several parts with words" is as precise a definition of the motet as will serve from the 13th to the late 16th century and beyond. The late 13th-century theorist Johannes de Grocheo believed that

165-439: A cappella style, basso continuo , with instruments playing colla parte , several of them composed for funerals. The first five, for double chorus, are almost certainly composed by Bach and are written in a cappella style, though strings and oboes appear to have accompanied colla parte . Lobet dem Herrn is for SATB with basso continuo . The funeral cantata O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht , BWV 118 (1736–37?)

220-1121: A cappella and some, such as Edward Elgar 's three motets Op. 2, are accompanied by organ. In the 20th century, composers of motets have often consciously imitated earlier styles. In 1920, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed O clap your hands , a setting of verses from Psalm 47 for a four-part choir, organ, brass, and percussion, called a motet. Carl Nielsen set in Tre Motetter three verses from different psalms as motets, first performed in 1930. Francis Poulenc set several Latin texts as motets, first Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (1938). Maurice Duruflé composed Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens in 1960, and Notre Père in 1977. Other examples include works by Richard Strauss , Charles Villiers Stanford , Edmund Rubbra , Lennox Berkeley , Morten Lauridsen , Edward Elgar , Hugo Distler , F. Melius Christiansen , Ernst Krenek , Michael Finnissy , Karl Jenkins and Igor Stravinsky . Arvo Pärt has composed motets, including Da pacem Domine in 2006, as have Dave Soldier (Motet: Harmonies of

275-560: A homage to Dieterich Buxtehude , who had written similar partitas and whose music and virtuosity at the organ is known to have exercised a considerable influence on Bach in his youth. In the ornamental chorale, a form invented and popularized in Northern Germany by Scheidemann, the chorale melody is taken by one voice in an elaborate and highly embellished form. Buxtehude was one of its most celebrated exponents, with his individual expressive "vocal" ornamentation. Five chorale preludes of

330-485: A loft at the east end of the chapel just below the roof, it had two manual keyboards, a pedalboard and about a dozen stops, including at Bach's request a row of tuned bells. It is probable that the longer chorale preludes composed then served some ceremonial function during the services in the court chapel, such as accompanying communion. When Bach moved to his later positions as Kapellmeister in Köthen in 1717 and cantor at

385-461: A personal example and by monitoring the room to ensure all members of the orchestra are being cooperative. It is more appropriate for the concertmaster to ask for quiet if there is a bit of chatter than it is for a guest conductor unfamiliar with the orchestra. In performances given in America and/or featuring American or British orchestras, the concertmaster will usually walk onstage individually after

440-517: Is motectum , and the Italian mottetto was also used. If the word is from Latin, the name describes the movement of the different voices against one another. Today, however, the French etymology is favoured by reference books, as the word "motet" in 13th-century French had the sense of "little word". The troped clausulas that were the forerunner of the motet were originally called motelli (from

495-630: Is bathed in the sacred font, and the Christian is dedicated to Christ.") In France, Pierre Robert (24 grands motets), Henry Dumont (grands & petits motets), Marc-Antoine Charpentier (206 different types of motets), Michel-Richard de La Lande (70 grands motets), Henry Desmarest (20 grands motets), François Couperin (motets lost), Nicolas Bernier , André Campra , Charles-Hubert Gervais (42 grands motets), Louis-Nicolas Clérambault , François Giroust (70 grands motets) were also important composers. In Germany, too, pieces called motets were written in

550-514: Is now accepted as a planned reworking of the shorter chorale prelude Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein (BWV 641) from the Orgelbüchlein (c 1715). The breadth of styles and forms represented by the Great Eighteen is as diverse as that of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier for the keyboard. The pieces are on a large and often epic scale, compared with the miniature intimacy of the choral preludes of

605-458: Is often filled by the principal solo cornet or trumpet . The duties and tasks of the concertmaster are many. Primarily, the concertmaster acts as the conduit between conductor and orchestra and is accountable to both parties. One of the principal tasks of the concertmaster is to provide bowings for the first violins prior to rehearsal. This entails a great knowledge of historical playing styles in addition to complete idiomatic understanding of

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660-523: Is regarded as a motet, though it has independent instrumental parts. The motet Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren , BWV 231 is an arrangement of a movement from Bach's Cantata 28, and the authenticity of the arrangement is not certain. For a few more motets, such as Ich lasse dich nicht , BWV Anh 159 , Bach's authorship is debated. Later 18th-century composers wrote few motets. Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach composed an extended chorale motet Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme , combining Baroque techniques with

715-667: The Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" BWV 769 added at the same time as the chorale preludes (1739–1750); and an early version of Nun komm' der heiden Heiland (1714–1717), appended after Bach's death. The first thirteen chorale preludes BWV 651–663 were added by Bach himself between 1739 and 1742, supplemented by BWV 664 and 665 in 1746–7. In 1750 when Bach began to suffer from blindness before his death in July, BWV 666 and 667 were dictated to his student and son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnikol and copied posthumously into

770-526: The Orgelbüchlein . Many of the chorale preludes pay homage to much older models in the German liturgical tradition ( Georg Böhm , Buxtehude and Pachelbel ), but the parallel influence of the Italian concerto tradition is equally visible. It is a mid-eighteenth century salute to the musical traditions of the previous century. Unlike Part III of the Clavier-Übung , where Bach pushed his compositional techniques for

825-615: The Thomaskirche in Leipzig in 1723, his obligations did not specifically include compositions for the organ. The autograph manuscript of the Great Eighteen, currently preserved as P 271 in the Berlin State Library , documents that Bach began to prepare the collection around 1740, after having completed Part III of the Clavier-Übung in 1739. The manuscript is made up of three parts: the six trio sonatas for organ BWV 525–530 (1727–1732);

880-418: The cantus firmus —which did not necessarily coincide with repeating melodic patterns. Philippe de Vitry was one of the earliest composers to use this technique, and his work evidently had an influence on that of Guillaume de Machaut , one of the most famous named composers of late medieval motets. Other medieval motet composers include: The compositional character of the motet changed entirely during

935-867: The galant style . Mozart's Ave verum corpus (K. 618) is this genre. Rameau , Mondonville and Giroust also wrote grands motets. In the 19th century, some German composers continued to write motets. Felix Mendelssohn composed Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt , Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen and Mitten wir im Leben sind . Johannes Brahms composed three motets on biblical verses, Fest- und Gedenksprüche . Josef Rheinberger composed Abendlied . Anton Bruckner composed about 40 motets , mainly in Latin, including Locus iste . French composers of motets include Camille Saint-Saëns and César Franck . In English similar compositions are called anthems . Some later English composers, such as Charles Villiers Stanford , wrote motets in Latin . Most of these compositions are

990-647: The polychoral motet, in which two or more choirs of singers (or instruments) alternated. This style of motet was sometimes called the Venetian motet to distinguish it from the Netherlands or Flemish motet written elsewhere. " If Ye Love Me " by Thomas Tallis serves the demand of the Church of England for English texts, and a focus on understanding the words, beginning in homophony . In Baroque music , especially in France where

1045-498: The 38 chorale preludes in J. G. Schicht's four-volume anthology. The two chorale preludes Nun komm' der heiden Heiland , BWV 659, and Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele , BWV 654, had nevertheless become favourites. Mendelssohn and Schumann both venerated Schmücke dich : Schumann recalled Mendelssohn confessing after one performance that, "If life were to deprive me of hope and faith, this single chorale would replenish me with them both." Following Mendelssohn's popularization of these works,

1100-452: The Dutch composer Sweelinck and was adopted by his German pupils Scheidt and Scheidemann ; the tradition was continued at the turn of the 18th century by Georg Böhm and Pachelbel from Thuringia , who provided the model for Bach. Bach, however, broke the norm in the two chorale preludes of this genre, BWV 656 and 667, which each have only a small number of variations (3 and 2). This might be

1155-619: The French mot , "word"), soon replaced by the term moteti . The earliest motets arose in the 13th century from the organum tradition exemplified in the Notre-Dame school of Léonin and Pérotin . The motet probably arose from clausula sections in a longer sequence of organum . Clausulae represent brief sections of longer polyphonic settings of chant with a note-against-note texture. In some cases, these sections were composed independently and "substituted" for existing setting. These clausulae could then be "troped," or given new text in

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1210-479: The Great Eighteen were written in this style: BWV 652, 653, 654, 659 and 662. The cantus firmus chorale: The melody of the chorale is sounded in long notes throughout the piece, was established and popularized in central Germany by Pachelbel. One of his students was Johann Christoph Bach III , Bach's older brother, who in turn taught Bach keyboard technique. There are six examples of the cantus firmus chorale: BWV 651, 657, 658, 661, 663 and 668. The chorale trio has

1265-460: The Renaissance tradition of semi-secular Latin motets in works such as Plaude Laetare Gallia , written to celebrate the baptism of King Louis XIV 's son; its text by Pierre Perrin begins: Plaude laetare Gallia Rore caelesti rigantur lilia, Sacro Delphinus fonte lavatur Et christianus Christo dicatur. ("Rejoice and sing, France: the lily is bathed with heavenly dew. The Dauphin

1320-401: The circumstances surrounding the composition of this chorale. The biographical account from 1802 of Johann Nicolaus Forkel that Altnikol was copying the work at the composer's deathbed has since been discounted: in the second half of the eighteenth century, it had become an apocryphal legend, encouraged by Bach's heirs, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach and Wilhelm Friedmann Bach . The piece, however,

1375-401: The concertmaster is customarily the leader of the first violin section. There is another violin section, the second violins, led by the principal second violin. Any violin solo in an orchestral work is played by the concertmaster (except in the case of a violin concerto , in which case a guest soloist usually plays). It is usually required that the concertmaster be the most skilled musician in

1430-449: The conductor is, often (unless they are a string player), a generalist. Full-time professional orchestras work with several conductors through the course of a regular season. Accordingly, while the conductor may change week to week or month to month, the concertmaster lends a sense of stable and constant leadership day to day. While the impetus for the orchestra to play is given by the conductor's gestures, oftentimes for reasons of precision

1485-593: The definitive Bach-Gesellschaft edition, edited by Wilhelm Rust , was published in Leipzig in 1875. Konzertmeister The concertmaster (from the German Konzertmeister ), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the conductor , the concertmaster is the most significant leader in an orchestra , symphonic band or other musical ensemble . In an orchestra,

1540-399: The flowering of the form. The Renaissance motet is polyphonic , sometimes with an imitative counterpoint, for a chorus singing a Latin and usually sacred text. It is not connected to a specific liturgy , making it suitable for any service. Motets were sacred madrigals and the language of the text was decisive: Latin for a motet and the vernacular for a madrigal. The relationship between

1595-931: The form of a trio sonata in which the upper parts are played on the two keyboards of the organ and the basso continuo part is played on the pedals. Bach elevated this form to the status of contemporary Italian trio sonatas or double concertos of Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Torelli : it is probably his single most original innovation in the repertoire of organ chorales. The three virtuosic chorale preludes of this type are BWV 655, 660 and 664. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The original chorale preludes composed in Weimar are numbered BWV 651a, 652a, etc. When there are two or three earlier versions,

1650-530: The forms is clearest in composers of sacred music, such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina , whose "motets" setting texts from the Canticum Canticorum are among the most lush and madrigal-like, while his madrigals using Petrarch 's poems could be performed in a church. Religious compositions in vernacular languages were often called madrigali spirituali , "spiritual madrigals". These Renaissance motets developed in episodic format with separate phrases of

1705-401: The lead flautist will receive similar responsibilities to the concertmaster, depending on several factors such as age, skill and time spent in the ensemble . The concertmaster will, in both orchestral and wind band settings, also coordinate with other principals and section leaders, in most cases being their senior in terms of group pecking order . In brass bands , the role of concertmaster

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1760-459: The long intervals between the successive lines of the cantus firmus , a feature of their large scale which has not pleased all commentators. The Renaissance motet , in madrigal style, forms the model for the chorale motet, used in BWV 665 and 666. Each line of the chorale is established as a point of imitation for the different parts, which keep to a common rhythm. This style, the earliest used by Bach,

1815-535: The manuscript. Only the first page of the last choral prelude BWV 668, the so-called "deathbed chorale", has survived, recorded by an unknown copyist. The piece was posthumously published in 1751 as an appendix to the Art of the Fugue , with the title "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein" (BWV 668a), instead of the original title "Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit" ("Before your throne I now appear"). There have been various accounts of

1870-435: The mechanics of string playing. Section leaders among the other strings will base their bowings on those of the concertmaster and these section leaders (called principals) may confer during rehearsal in order to ensure unity and cohesion of execution between the string sections. Ensemble cohesion emanates directly from the contact and connection between these vital front desk positions. The concertmaster assumes responsibility for

1925-520: The motet was "not to be celebrated in the presence of common people, because they do not notice its subtlety, nor are they delighted in hearing it, but in the presence of the educated and of those who are seeking out subtleties in the arts". In the early 20th century, it was generally believed motet came from the Latin movere (to move), though a derivation from the French mot ("word", or "phrase") had also been suggested. The Medieval Latin for "motet"

1980-643: The motet was very important, there were two distinct, and very different types of motet: petits motets , sacred choral or chamber compositions whose only accompaniment was a basso continuo ; and grands motets , which included massed choirs and instruments up to and including a full orchestra. Jean-Baptiste Lully , Michel Richard de Lalande , Marc-Antoine Charpentier were important composers of this sort of motet. Their motets often included parts for soloists as well as choirs; they were longer, including multiple movements in which different soloist, choral, or instrumental forces were employed. Lully's motets also continued

2035-545: The new musical languages of the Baroque. Heinrich Schütz wrote many motets in series of publications, for example three books of Symphoniae sacrae , some in Latin and some in German. Hans Leo Hassler composed motets such as Dixit Maria , on which he also based a mass composition. Six motets attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach and catalogued BWV 225–230 are relatively long pieces combining German hymns with biblical texts, several of them composed for funerals. Mostly written in

2090-460: The numbering uses other letters of the alphabet, for example BWV 655a, 655b and 665c. The variant BWV 668a is the complete version of the chorale prelude that was published as an appendix to the Art of the Fugue , possibly to compensate for the unfinished final fugue, Contrapunctus XIV . The Great Eighteen were known throughout Germany by the turn of the nineteenth century, but only the last chorale prelude

2145-449: The orchestra in the concertmaster's absence. The concertmaster, along with the conductor and section principals, will normally participate in the auditions of important musicians (e.g., principal players) in the orchestra. In a standard concert band , the concertmaster is the principal clarinet or oboe and leads the ensemble's tuning. The first-chair concertmaster will, in common practice, play all solos for their instrument. Often

2200-441: The orchestra will actually follow the bow of the concertmaster as their cue to play. This is because the conductor's gestures exist in the abstract whereas the concertmaster produces sound along with their fellow musicians. Further, the idiosyncratic technique of some conductors can make it difficult for the orchestra to enter together. Yet another duty of the concertmaster is to maintain a sense of decorum during rehearsals by setting

2255-486: The organ to new limits, the chorale settings of Bach's Great Eighteen represent "the very quintessence of all he elaborated in Weimar in this field of art;" they "transcend by their magnitude and depth all previous types of choral prelude"; and they display a "workmanship as nearly flawless as we have any right to expect of a human being." The eighteen are characterized by their freely developed and independent accompaniment filling

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2310-470: The rest of the orchestra is seated, and bow and receive applause before the conductor appears. In continental European orchestras, this practice is uncommon. There, the concertmaster usually walks onstage with the rest of the orchestra. As the representative of the orchestra, the concertmaster will usually shake hands with the conductor at the beginning or end of a concert as a sign of mutual respect and appreciation. Motet In Western classical music ,

2365-472: The section, experienced at learning music quickly, counting rests accurately and leading the rest of the string section by their playing and bow gestures. The concertmaster sits to the conductor's left, closest to the audience, in what is called the "first chair," "first [music] stand" or outside of the US "first desk." The concertmaster makes decisions regarding bowing and other technical details of violin playing for

2420-410: The surrounding multi-voice counterpoint, adopting a technique of contemporary 'tenor masses'. This obscured the cantus firmus rhythm more than in medieval isorhythmic motets. Cascading, passing chords created by the interplay of voices and the absence of an obvious beat distinguish medieval and renaissance motet styles. Motet frequently used the texts of antiphons and the Renaissance period marked

2475-457: The term "motet" could in fact include certain brief single-voice songs. The texts of upper voices include subjects as diverse as courtly love odes, pastoral encounters with shepherdesses, political attacks, and many Christian devotions, especially to the Virgin Mary. In many cases, the texts of the upper voices are related to the themes of the chant passage they elaborate on, even in cases where

2530-424: The text given independent melodic treatment and contrapuntal development. Secular motets, known as "ceremonial motets", typically set a Latin text to praise a monarch, music or commemorate a triumph. The theme of courtly love , often found in the medieval secular motet, was banished from the Renaissance motet. Ceremonial motets are characterised by clear articulation of formal structure and by clear diction, because

2585-411: The texts would be novel for the audience. Adrian Willaert , Ludwig Senfl , and Cipriano de Rore are prominent composers of ceremonial motets from the first half of the 16th century. The motet was one of the preeminent forms of Renaissance music . Important composers of Renaissance motets include: In the latter part of the 16th century, Giovanni Gabrieli and other composers developed a new style,

2640-439: The tone and execution of the entire section of first violins, in addition to performing any solo passages that occur in a given piece. Another primary duty of the concertmaster is to translate instructions from the conductor into specific technical language for the strings. Some conductors prefer to speak more broadly and defer to the concertmaster on such matters out of respect for the musicians who are expert specialists while

2695-421: The transition from medieval to Renaissance music , as most composers abandoned the use of a repeated figure as a cantus firmus . Guillaume Dufay was a transitional figure in this regard, writing one of the last important motets in the medieval, isorhythmic style, Nuper rosarum flores , in 1436. During the second half of the fifteenth century Motets stretched the cantus firmus to greater lengths compared to

2750-427: The upper part(s), creating motets. From these first motets arose a medieval tradition of secular motets. These were two- to four-part compositions in which different texts, sometimes in different vernacular languages, were sung simultaneously over a (usually Latin-texted) cantus firmus usually adapted from a melismatic passage of Gregorian chant on a single word or phrase. It is also increasingly argued that

2805-538: The upper voices are secular in content. Most medieval motets are anonymous compositions and significantly re-use music and text. They are transmitted in a number of contexts, and were most popular in northern France. The largest surviving collection is in the Montpellier Codex . Increasingly in the 14th and 15th centuries, motets made use of repetitive patterns often termed panisorhythmic ; that is, they employed repeated rhythmic patterns in all voices—not only

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2860-453: The violins, and sometimes all of the string players. The concertmaster leads the orchestra in tuning before concerts and rehearsals, and other technical aspects of orchestra management. Leading the orchestral tuning is not a mere formality; if the concertmaster believes that a section is not adequately tuned, they will signal to the oboe player to play another " A ." Several larger orchestras have one or more assistant concertmasters, who lead

2915-460: Was available in print, in several editions, thanks to its reputation as the "deathbed chorale". Prior to the two Leipzig editions of Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 (which omitted BWV 664, 665, 666 and 668) and of Griepenkerl and Roitzsch in 1847 (which was complete), the only other published chorale prelude of the Great Eighteen was the brilliant trio Allein Gott BWV 664, which appeared in 1803 as one of

2970-405: Was that employed in his Mühlhausen cantatas, such as the funeral cantata Actus Tragicus , BWV 106. A common distinctive feature is the use of musical figures to illustrate particular lines or even words in the hymn text. The chorale partita is a set of variations on a chorale melody. Normally each variation repeats the chorale melody and is essentially a separate movement. This style goes back to

3025-400: Was to be his most productive period for organ composition. As his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach mentions in his obituary or nekrolog : "His grace's delight in his playing fired him to attempt everything possible in the art of how to treat the organ. Here he also wrote most of his organ works." During Bach's time at Weimar, the chapel organ there was extensively improved and enlarged; occupying

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