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J.S. Bach: The Leipzig Chorales
Christa Rakich, organ
"A connoisseur’s delight!" -- The American Organist (click the "Reviews" tab above for the full text)
A two-disc program of Bach's famous "Great Eighteen," performed by acclaimed organist Christa Rakich on two very different organs. The booklet contains program notes by the artist as well as full organ specifications and registrations.
CD 1: C. B. Fisk organ at Old West Church in Boston
Fantasia super Komm, Heiliger Geist in organo pleno / il canto fermo nel pedale, S 651
Trio super Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend à 2 claviers et pédale, S 655
Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele à 2 claviers et pédale, S 654
Nun danket alle Gott à 2 claviers et pédale / il canto fermo nel soprano, S 657
Von Gott will ich nicht lassen il canto fermo nel pedale, S 658
Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist in organo pleno / con pedale obligato, S 667
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland à 2 claviers et pédale, S 659
Trio super Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland a due bassi e canto fermo, S 660
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland in organo pleno / il canto fermo nel pedale, S 661
CD 2: Paul Fritts organ at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington
Komm, Heiliger Geist alio modo / à 2 claviers et pédale, S 651
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland sub communione / pedaliter, S 665
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland alio modo, S 666
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr à 2 claviers et pédale / il canto fermo nel soprano, S 662
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr à 2 claviers et pédale / il canto fermo nel tenore, S 663
Trio super Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr à 2 claviers et pédale, S 664
An Wasserflüssen Babylon à 2 claviers et pédale, S 653
O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig 3 versus, S 656
Vor deinen Thron tret ich, S 668
THE LEIPZIG CHORALES/J.S. BACH
Christa Rakich, organist.
III/46 Fisk organ (1970) of Old West Church, Boston, Mass.
III/81 Fritts organ (1998) of Lagerquist Concert Hall, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash.
Loft Recordings LRCD 1078/79 (2 discs)
One of this country’s foremost Bach interpreters, Christa Rakich has enjoyed the company of Bach’s Great Eighteen for most of her career as both student and performer. These exquisite performances reveal her intimacy with and love of Bach’s transcendent commentaries on the chorale. She presents them in an altered format, providing greater interest and contrast, showcasing two outstanding modern American instruments. She follows a model favored by Bach, in which larger, extended works frame shorter ones, with contrast between polyphonic and melodic styles. She has created two “programs” of nine chorale preludes each, one on the Fisk, and the other on the Fritts. Rakich’s playing is distinguished by its precision, urbanity, subtle expression, careful articulation, rhythmic energy, and grace. The use of two celebrated instruments offers interesting contrasts and comparisons. The acoustic at Old West is dry and intimate; the Fisk’s voicing matches this environment, as does Ms. Rakich’s playing. Lagerquist Hall boasts a greater ambience; the Fritts aptly sports a more robust voice, again matched by the playing. Both instruments are expertly captured by Loft’s microphones. This is a connoisseur’s delight.
-- James Hildreth The American Organist, April 2007
CUSTOMER REVIEW:
I recently bought, through my wife, a copy of the Bach Leipzig Chorales recording by organist Christa Rakich. I've listened to it several times, and have become frustrated that I'm not somebody prominent who could review and promote it the way it deserves. I really have nothing but superlatives to write about it.
I'm very taken by a number of things. First, that all the applied scholarship in her playing (dance elements, articulation, tempi, etc.) seem to come naturally from within the music rather than sounding imposed on it, like so many performances I've heard. Second, nothing sounds rushed or nervous, which is also rare these days. Third, her subtle rubato never breaks the basic pulse, but brings great warmth and humanity to pieces that can sound icy, remote and over-technical in less skilled hands. For my tastes, she seems to channel the very soul of Bach in her playing of these works. I say "for my tastes" because I've studied and played some of them in the past (others were beyond my technique), and have both formed and altered my ideas about how they go over some 30 years.
Both organs used are wonderful, and, I think ideal instruments for the pieces. I imagine Bach would have been pleased to play either of them. Sonically, the end of "O Lamm Gottes" takes one's breath away in its grandeur.
My wife and I own a lot of classical recordings, thus I have become gun shy about adding to our collection. I myself have grown jaded and am often disappointed with new acquisitions (which are returned or given to the library), but this will occupy a place of honor and be often listened to. The only other recording I have of this set is the old Anton Heiller LP's on Vanguard Cardinal I think both Bach and Heiller (who was one of her teachers) would be proud of her.
—David Snyder
CD 1:
C. B. Fisk organ, Opus 55
Old West Church, Boston, Massachusetts (1970)
[1] Komm, Heiliger Geist, S 651
Pedal: Subbass 16, Octave 8, Superoctaves 4&2, Mixture III, Trombone 16
Great: Bourdon 16, Prestant 8, Doublet 2, Mixture IV-VI
[2] Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, S 655
Right hand: Swell Violin Diapason 8
Left hand: Great Octave 4 (down an octave)
Pedal: Subbass 16, Choir Chimney Flute 8, Choir/Pedal
[3] Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele, S 654
Pedal: Subbass 16, Swell Stopt Diapason 8, Swell/Pedal
Accompaniment: Great Spire Flute 8
Melody: Choir Prestant 4, Night Horn 4 (down an octave)
tremulant
[4] Nun danket alle Gott, S 657
Pedal: Subbass 16, Octave 8
Accompaniment: Choir Chimney Flute 8, Prestant 4
Melody: Great Trumpet 8, Octave 4
[5] Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, S 658
Pedal: Great Doublet 2, Great/Pedal (down an octave)
Choir: Night Horn 4
[6] Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist, S 667
Pedal: Subbass 16, Octave 8, Superoctaves 4&2, Swell Contra Hautboy 16, Swell/Pedal
Choir: Chimney Flute 8, Prestant, Fifteenth 2, Sharp IV
[7] Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (cantus in soprano), S 659
Pedal: Subbass 16. Rohrpipe 8, Great Bourdon 16, Spire flute 8, Great/Pedal
Accompaniment: Swell Violin Diapason 8
Melody: Choir Chimney Flute 8, Prestant 4, Nazard
tremulant
[8] Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (a due bassi), S 660
Pedal: Swell Violin Diapason 8, Spitz Flute 4, Swell/Pedal
Melody: Choir Cremona 8
Manual Bass line: Great Bourdon 16, Spire flute 8 (up an octave)
[9] Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (in organo pleno), S 661
Pedal: Subbass 16, Octave 8, Superoctaves 4&2, Mixture III, Trombone 16
Swell: Violin Diapason 8, Spitz Flute 4, Contra Hautboy 16, Trumpet 8
Great: Bourdon 16, Prestant 8, Octave 4, Doublet 2, Sesquialter II, Mixture IV-VI
Choir: Prestant 4, Cremona 8
Swell/Pedal, Choir/Pedal, Swell/Great
CD 2:
Paul Fritts & Company, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma
[1] Komm, Heiliger Geist, S 652
Melody: Positiv Gedackt 8, Octave 4, Sesquialter
Accompaniment: Great Octave 8, Rohrflöte 8
Pedal: Praestant 16, Octave 8
tremulant
[2] Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, S 665
phrase 1: Great Praestant 16, Octave 8, Octave 4, Octave 2, Mixture
Pedal: Posaune 16, Praestant 16, Octave 8, Octave 4
phrase 2: Positiv Praestant 8, Octave 4, Octave 2, Scharff
phrase 3: add Positiv Sesquialter, Fagott 16, Dulcian 8
phrase 4: add Positiv/Great, Pedal Trompete 8, Mixture
[3] Jesus Christus, unser Heiland (manualiter), S 666
Positiv: Gedackt 8
Pedal: Subbaß 16, Gedackt 8
[4] Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (cantus in soprano), S 657
Melody: Swell Bourdon 8, Koppelflöte 4, Nasard, Tierce, Gemshorn 2
Accompaniment: Great Octave 4 (down an octave)
Pedal: Praestant 16, Octave 8
tremulant
[5] Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (cantus in tenor), S 663
Accompaniment: Great Rohrflöte 8, Spitzflöte 4
Melody: Swell Trompete 8, Bourdon 8
Pedal: Praestant 16, Octave 8
[6] Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (trio), S 664
Right hand: Swell Principal 8
Left hand: Great Octave 4
Pedal: Octave 8
[7] An Wasserflüssen Babylon, S 653
Accompaniment: Great Octave 8
Melody: Positiv Dulcian 8
Pedal: Subbaß 16, Octave 8
tremulant
[8] O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, S 656
verse 1:Great Praestant 16, Octave 8, Octave 4
verse 2: Positiv Praestant 8, Octave 4, Octave 2
verse 3, phrases 1&2: add Great Octave 2, Mixture
add Positiv Fagott 16, Dulcian 8, Positiv/Great
verse 3, phrase 3:add Great Trompete 16, Trompete 8
add Pedal Mixture, Trompete 4
add Wind Stabilizer
verse 3, phrase 4: add Pedal Posaune 32, remove Pedal Praestant 16
add Positiv Trompete 8, Scharff
add Swell Principal 8, Octave 4, Mixture, Trompete 8, Swell/Great
[9] Vor deinen Thron tret ich, S 668
Melody: Positiv Rohrflöte 4 (at pitch)
Accompaniment: Great Salicional 8, Rohrflöte 8
Pedal: Subbaß 16, Gedackt 8
tremulant
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Program Notes
The “Great Eighteen” have been part of my life for decades. I studied them with all my principal teachers, and have performed them often. Years ago, preparing for my first live performance of the whole set, I encountered a dilemma: the pieces can be fatiguing to hear when performed in their published order. For example, after hearing the full organ sound of the first “Komm, heiliger Geist,” it was tiresome to listen next to another lengthy setting. Both versions, it seemed to me, were monolithic. So I began to explore different ways to order this great repertoire.
Bach was fond of the Praeludium / assorted chorale preludes / Fugue model of program structure, and I have chosen to adopt this large-scale plan as a model for this performance: the larger chorale preludes serve as alpha and omega to groups of smaller pieces. Dividing the lot into two groups of nine also provided opportunity to use two instruments. I intend each disk to be a listenable program in itself.
Disc 1. We begin on the East coast, with the universally loved Fisk organ at Old West Church, Boston.
The Fantasia on Komm, heiliger Geist is a fierce whirlwind: here the task is to convey the breathless agitation of constant sixteenth-note motion, yet present clearly the gestures that define that motion. The opening bars contain a wealth of invention: first, the graceful opening arpeggio (later heard in inversion); next, an ascending eighth-quarter syncopation on the downbeat of the second measure; and in the third bar, the ascending sixteenth-sixteenth-quarter Anton Heiller so often referred to as ‘Ky-ri-e.’ (All the Kyrie settings in Clavierübung III begin this way, as does the Kyrie fons bonitatis on which they are based.) Of course, ‘Her-re Gott,’ at the end of the first phrase of the chorale, paints the same shape.
For Schmücke dich, a gracious sarabande, I found the combination of both 4’ flues on the Choir haunting. There is an edginess to this sound, intensified by the fragile, uneven tremolo. I picture a cabaret singer in thrall to the world’s saddest song. Her voice is on the verge of cracking, and we wouldn’t mind if it did. The emotion behind Schmücke dich, with its text of divine union and comfort, encompasses joy and surrender as one.
The indication ‘Pedal 4 Fuß’ at the beginning of Von Gott will ich nicht lassen appears in the manuscript of alleged Bach student Johann Christoph Oley (Russell Stinson, J. S. Bach’s Great Eighteen Organ Chorales, p.86). This indication is problematic. If one plays the manual parts at 8’ pitch and the pedal at 4’, in several places there is the very odd effect of the pedal cantus migrating above the soprano. If one plays both manual and pedal parts at the same pitch, infamous parallel fifths between tenor and alto occur in measure 30. To my ears, these fifths are barely audible, while the sound of the cantus wandering so far from the tenor range is distressing. So I have opted to keep manual and pedal at the same pitch level. In this case the pitch level is the 4’, a choice very much guided by the Fisk at Old West: the balance between the Choir Night Horn and the Great Doublet is perfect.
The first eight measures of Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, heiliger Geist preexist in the Orgelbüchlein as S 631. “Spitfire” would be a good one-word description of either setting. The jabbing pedal notes on the third eighth of each beat verge on rudeness. When finally they assume the cantus firmus, in more settled note values, the hands play hexachord scales—ascending, descending, parallel, contrary—quite the roller-coaster effect. The final cadence is abrupt, ending on beat 4, after the signature B-A-C-H flourish.
Part one ends with the three settings of Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland. The first is a profoundly fervent piece, solemn yet smoldering. In the second, a trio, the left hand and pedal occupy the same register, resulting in two bass lines, a due bassi. Even the motivic gestures are reminiscent of gamba duos. Principal or Spitzflöte sounds approach those colors and yet can differentiate two “players” to the listener: a gentler, more lyric principal in the left hand versus a raspier, scratchier “bow” in the pedal. Of course, both “gambas” play at 8’ pitch.
The quarter-note pulse of this trio defines the half-note pulse of the third, organo pleno setting. Again, there is a whirlwind energy here, a fitting reflection of the first chorale prelude.
Disc 2. For the second disc, we move to the West coast, to the distinguished Paul Fritts organ at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.
Where disc 1 began and ended with excitement, even agitation, disc 2 begins and ends with broad strokes. The second setting of Komm, heiliger Geist is long and lyrical, ornamenting the chorale one luscious phrase at a time.
There is a second grouping of three in the Great Eighteen, the settings of Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr. It is unusual to find tempo or character indications in the works of Bach, but one finds them here. Adagio (“at ease”) marks the first setting, with the cantus ornamented in the soprano. Here is voluptuous elegance, the slowest quarter-note pulse one can feel.
Cantabile (“singing”) marks the second setting. The cantus is in the tenor. In the third (trio) setting, it is easy to see parallels with Bach’s treatment of Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend. Each is an italianate concertato, drawing its motives from the opening phrase of the chorale. And in each, the cantus appears only at the very end, in the pedal.
Heiller always played An Wasserflüssen Babylon with the pedal at 8’ pitch. It makes for a tender, less earthbound quality in this poignant chorale prelude. On the Fritts organ, however, the addition of a 16’ caused a flexibility in the wind on the Positive Dulcian that completely charmed me. One notices it particularly in the long held tenor “g,” the last note of the chorale. Additionally, the tension in the penultimate pedal G-f# was irresistible.
O Lamm Gottes ends the program. Its three contiguous verses make it the longest piece in the collection. The third verse is the most colorful; the text of each phrase drawn in music, an image of the Passion. The very last phrase, “Erbarm dich unser, O Jesu” (“Have mercy on us, O Jesus”) is painted in long slow scales, ascending and descending, encompassing nearly the whole keyboard: full, open, broad, generous. It recalls another much more recent text, “the last full measure of devotion,” and ends with a sense of being completely spent.
Vor deinen Thron appears incomplete at the end of the collection, with Bach’s marking “pp” (“pianissimo,” or very quiet). A full version is found at the end of Art of Fugue. It is appended here as a quiet epilogue to the program. Its inclusion in the collection has become standard, resulting in the moniker the “Great Eighteen.”
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One of the finest Bach recordings of its time 
