playlist | Johann Christoph Bach: 44 hymn preludes complete

Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703) was an older relative of the great Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). He is not to be confused with:
– Johann Christoph Bach (1645–93) active in Arnstadt
– Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721) active in Ohrdruf
– Johann Christoph Bach (1673–1727) active in Gehren
– Johann Christoph Bach (1676–1738) a son of our Johann Christoph Bach

In 1665 Johann Christoph Bach took up the position of organist at the municipal church of St George at Eisenach in the Thuringia region of Germany. He was also required to supervise maintenance of the organs in two other Eisenach churches: St Nicholas and the Annenkirche.

Eisenach was then the capital of the Dukes of  Saxe-Eisenach and Johann Christoph was concurrently employed at the ducal court as a harpsichordist.

The 44 preludes
The source of Johann Christoph Bach’s 44 hymn preludes (44 Choräle zum Präambulieren) is a manuscript that is widely referred to as ‘Spitta MS.1491’, the scribe unknown. It comprises a number of seventeenth-/eighteenth-century German keyboard works. The manuscript’s last private owner was the Bach scholar Phillip Spitta (1841–94). It is now in the library of the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK); shelf-mark RH 0093. The title-page of the Choräle translates as: Chorales / Which may be used as preludes during services / Composed & distributed by Johann Christoph Bach / Corporation of Eisenach. These pieces first appeared in print in 1929 as “44 Choräle zum Präambulieren” edited by Martin Fischer for  Bärenreiter (Kassel). That edition, still in print, remains the only published source.

Chorale-prelude “Ach Gott von Himmel” by Johann Christoph Bach (1642–1703). Spitta MS 1491 | UdK Berlin RH 0093.

Title from the Spitta MS as given in the Bärenreiter (Kassel) 1949 edition, ed. Martin Fischer. [Catalog BA 285]

Portrait of a musician [Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)]. Anonymous, circa 1700. [Source: Berlin, [https://www.akg-images.de/ ‘Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte]’ (Prussian State Library)]

Style
These 44 pieces are akin to written-down improvisations, using simple contrapuntal forms and close major-minor shifts. They are not arranged in any particular order. Each prelude makes use of a similar musical structure in which the first line of the hymn is played as a solo that is then given a straightforward imitative treatment, often in just three voices, interspersed with short melodic sequences, ending with a coda over a sustained pedal note.

St George’s church, Eisenach. 1515-20. Tower 1898–1902. [Image source: Wikimedia]

St George’s church. West-gallery organ by Silbermann 1696–1707. Designed by Johann Christoph Bach who died before its completion. [Image source: Wikimedia]

St George’s church, Eisenach. 1515-20. Interior looking east [Image source: Wikimedia]

Performance
Although not concert-programme material these charming, straight-forward little pieces are adaptable to a wide range of registrations and they can make a most respectable contribution to the work of the liturgical organist.

Playlist: click on any title to start the playlist

The organ at St Geroge’s Eisenach
In 1665, when Johann Christoph took up his job at Eisenach, the organ in St George’s was a 26-stop organ built c.1576 by Georg Schauenberg (n.d.). In March I696 Johann Christoph proposed to rebuild the “old and unreliable” organ at  St George’s “to a far more beautiful and useful specification”. The old organ-case and wind chests were sold to a church in Ruhla. The new organ’s builder was Georg Christoph Stertzing ( c.1650–1717) and when completed the new instrument had 49 stops spread across four manuals and pedal. The case we see today is only slightly altered from that which Bach knew. (A full history and specification can be found in the 2004 article by Lynn Butler cited below.)

References and further reading
– Lynn Edwards Butler. ‘Johann Christoph Bach’s New Organ for Eisenach’s Georgenkirche‘. Bach, Vol. 35, No. 1 (2004), pp. 42-60. JSTOR. Online resource. Accessed 6 April 2023.
– David Schukenberg. ‘A Bach Manuscript Recovered: Berlin, Bibliothek der Hochshule der Kunste, Spitta Ms. 1491‘. Bach Notes: the newsletter of the American Bach Society. Fall 1998. Schulenbergmusic.org. Online resource, accessed 3 April 2023
– Jon Laukvik. Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing. Vol.1: The Baroque and Classical Periods. (Stuttgart: Carus, 1996).
– Daniel R. Melamed. ‘Constructing Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)‘ by Daniel R. Melamed. Music & Letters, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Aug., 1999), pp. 345-65. JSTOR. Online resource accessed 3 April 2023.
– ‘Georg Christoph Stertzing‘. Wikipedia. Accessed 6 April 2023.
– ‘Johann Christoph Bach‘. Wikipedia. Accessed 6 April 2023.
– Portrait of Johann Christoph Bach. Anonymous c.1700. Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin. Online resource accessed 6 April 2023.
– Spitta MS 1491. Universität der Künste Berlin: shelfmark RH 0093.

Technical notes.
– Edition: Johann Christoph Bach (ed. Martin Fischer) 44 Choräle zum Präambulieren. Catalog BA00285. (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1929; repr. 2019)
– Temperament: Werckmeister III; pitch A=440 
– Organ: Viscount Sonus 60 
– Microphone: Zoom Q2N-4K 
– Recordings: ©Andrew Pink (2023). All rights reserved. Published under Creative Commons licence: [Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International]

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