Chorale Preludes BWV 741-765
Discussions - Part 1

In Dulci Jubilo

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 23, 2008):
O Holy Night transposed

Terejia wrote:
> Our choir conductor all of a sudden requested me to move the key of "O Holy Night" from Des-Dur to C-dur last Sunday. It may well be a piece of cake for a professionally trained organists but for me it took some effort. <
I have "O Holy Night" in FINALE and can send it to you in D major as a PDF file if you like.

And I should confess here that my choir is singing my choral arrangement of the G major "In Dulci Jubilo" of Bach on Christmas Eve!

Anne (Nessie) Russell wrote (December 23, 2008):
"In Dulci Jubilo" [was: O Holy Night transposed]

Doug Cowling wrote:
> And I should confess here that my choir is singing my choral arrangement of the G major "In Dulci Jubilo" of Bach on Christmas Eve! <
Is this arrangement singable by an amateur choir? Is it something you would share? (I have a music budget.)

Peter Smaill wrote (December 23, 2008):
"In Dulci Jubilo"

[To Anne (Nessie) Russell & Douglas Cowling] Very interesting, and best wishes for your concert. For some time I've admitted to liking the choral arrangement by the Swingle Singers of the A major setting from the "Orgelbuchlein",BWV 608. Here is my take on it.

The canon is I believe representative of Father and Son, just as Bach notates the canonic/imitative "et in unum" in the BMM as representing "Dup voces Articuli 2". The falling triplets are the Holy Spirit descending, and the whole is in triple time as is traditional, with three sharps as the key signature. In the original Bach notates the triples only in the second bar , 3 3 3,which is very symbolic, whereas modern editions note them from the beginning, showing 5 times, thus missing the point Bach's autograph makes. As with " Komm Heiliger Geist", the Holy Spirit theme starts after the main Father/Son voices, indicating double procession (see Stinson et al).

It is not just Bach that has a Trinitarian take on this Chorale, for I believe (from memory) that Telemann sets the chorale, unusualy, for just three voices. At any rate, it quite a challenge to play the Bach as a result of the artifice involved but beautiful to hear. And so is the G major setting.

William Roeland (Ludwig) wrote (December 23, 2008):
[To Peter Smaill] Bach's Organ version is registered usually as follows.
Hauptwerke (great) Principal 8
Ruckpositiv: Flutes 8-2 and a mutation of somesort
Pedal: Gedack 16 or 8
Cymbelstern ( from whatever it is located on)

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 23, 2008):
Peter Smaill wrote::
> At any rate, it quite a challenge to play the Bach as a result of the artifice involved but beautiful to hear. And so is the G major setting. <
The G Major is a particular delight as it is built over a pastoral bagpipe "pifa" drone. The shepherd's pipe figure has the chorale hidden in it. And easy to play with that sustained drone in the pedal!

Terejia wrote (December 24, 2008):
Douglas Cowling wrote:

> I have "O Holy Night" in FINALE and can send it to you in D major as a PDF file if you like. <
Many thanks for this very kind offer- I wish I could accept this gracious offer but actually my computer doesn't seem to function quite well with PDF program currently...

Good luck to you & your choir/(maybe orchestra )members, to myself and all those who are on music duty.

May light of hope and peace be upon everybody inside or outside the list.

William Roeland (Ludwig)wrote (December 23, 2008):
[To Peter Smaill] Bach's Organ version is registered usually as follows.
Hauptwerke (great) Principal 8
Ruckpositiv: Flutes 8-2
Pedal: Gedack 16 or 8
Cymbelstern

In dulci jubilo BWV 751

Anne (Nessie) Russell wrote (November 7, 2009):
This is not a major Bach event, but it concerns a group member. I bought Doug Cowling's choral arrangement of In dulci jubilo for my community choir. We had our first practice this morning. It sounds wonderful. I highly recommend this to choir leaders.

Verse 2 gives the men a chance to shine. Also in verse 2 there is a spot for the poor altos to be in the spotlight. I say "poor altos" because I used to sing alto. Alto lines are notoriously boring.

Best of all - it is easy to sing and sounds wonderful. I heard good things from the choir members. Trust me - if there was anything bad to say about it- I would have hear that!

This is a great anthem. Good work Doug.

Douglas Cowling wrote (November 7, 2009):
Anne Russell wrote::
> I bought Doug Cowling's choral arrangement of In dulci jubilo for my community choir. <
Wait till you hear "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" on a clarinet!

Thanks.

Ed Myskowski wrote (November 8, 2009):
Anne Russell wrote:
> I say "poor altos" because I used to sing alto. Alto lines are notoriously boring. <
Douglas Cowling replied:
> Wait till you hear "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" on a clarinet! <
Douglas Cowling also wrote, re BWV 154::
> The chorale, "Jesu, mein Hort" is the 4/4 version of the chorale which in its 3/4 version will become so famous as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" -- Bach's most frequently performed choral movement. <

My hermeneutic clarinet is at the ready. Just let me know if you want Trinity or Cross.

Apologies for snipping the thread a bit too aggressively. I wanted to say, re the notoriously boring alto lines: If all else fails, try more vibrato.

Thérèse Hanquet wrote (November 8, 2009):
[To Anne Russell] I have to disagree on the point of alto lines being boring!

I have sung as alto in our choir in some 40 Bach's cantatas now (+ motets), and I have never found them boring - but often difficult and sometimes not melodic at all, I agree on that.

On the other hand, our artistic director tries not to have in the same concert two cantatas where the sopranos have the cantus firmus because they would find it boring! (I would also...)

Ed Myskowski wrote (November 8, 2009):
Thérèse Hanquet wrote:
> I have to disagree on the point of alto lines being boring! <
Yes, my voice nearly jumped into the alto range when I read Annes post. Fortunately, I bit my tongue (or sat on my hands), other than a bit of wit, and waited for a genuine alto to rise to the defense. Thanks, and nice to hear from you. Makes me think about going out for a local Belgian ale, I will do just that!

Anne (Nessie) Russell wrote (November 9, 2009):
Thérèse Hanquet wrote:
> I have to disagree on the point of alto lines being boring!
I have sung as alto in our choir in some 40 Bach's cantatas now (+ motets), and I have never found them boring <
I have never been involved with a choir good enough to sing Bach Cantatas. Few (if any) people harmonize as well as he did. I certainly did not mean that Bach wrote boring lines for anyone. Since this is a Bach Cantatas list I can see how you thought that was what I meant.

Douglas Cowling wrote (November 9, 2009):
Thérèse Hanquet wrote:
> On the other hand, our artistic director tries not to have in the same concert two cantatas where the sopranos have the cantus firmus because they would find it boring! <
Try being a second tenor and sing the 16th century music of Sheppard, White and Taverner. Beautiful but mind-numbing!

Thérèse Hanquet wrote (November 9, 2009):
Anne Russell wrote:
> I certainly did not mean that Bach wrote boring lines for anyone. Since this is a Bach Cantatas list I can see how you >thought that was what I meant. <
Yes I probably misunderstood your remark! Sorry.

And we agree: even with very simple lines to sing (it happens - not very often - that altos have the cantus firmus), Bach's works are fun to sing when you listen to the harmony while you are singing (which is strongly advisable...).

But if you like strange leaps and melismas, alto parts are often a lot of fun by themselves!

Douglas Cowling wrote (November 9, 2009):
Thérèse Hanquet wrote:
> But if you like strange leaps and melismas, alto parts are often a lot of fun by themselves! <
Choral singers often comment on the difference between Bach and Handel's sequential 16th note runs. Handel's sequences in movements such as "Zadok the Priest" or "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" are always regular apredictable; Bach are nearly always irregular with an expected 2nd suddenly becoming a 3rd. The Tallis Choir of Toronto is presently preparing the music for our upcoming recreation of a Bach Christmas mass. "Lobet den Herrn" opens with a fugue based on a arising arpeggio. Near the end Bach suddenly varies the theme so that there are two fourths in the sequence. Even after three weeks, those voices crashed and burned when the pattern shifted. One alto asked plaintively, "Why does he do that?" as if Bach had spoiled her fun in what is a wonderful work to sing.