Vater unser im Himmelreich

BWV 636 performed by Matthias Havinga
Walburgiskerk, Zutphen

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Keep praying

In this organ arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer, the sombre melody is lent extra laboriousness

The Lord’s Prayer is the most important prayer in Christianity. No wonder, as it is the only one that came directly from Jesus himself. Luther arranged the prayer as a rhyming chorale, Vater unser im Himmelreich, adding one important supplication: Grant that the mouth not only pray, from deepest heart oh help its way.

Bach arranged Luther’s chorale melody numerous times: at least four times for organ, but also in several cantatas and in the St John Passion. This chorale prelude comes from the Orgelbüchlein, a collection of chorale preludes dating back to the years 1712-1717. By then, Bach had already gained a few years’ experience as an organist in Arnstadt and Weimar. The Orgelbüchlein shows us Bach’s organ style in its first great flush.

In this setting, Bach has opted for a relatively simple and steady accompaniment. The four parts actually play a chorale, but there is always one part that deviates from that principle and plays a figure in semiquavers. This figure travels continuously through the musical construction, while the other three parts keep playing chords, lending extra laboriousness to a melody that is already sombre to begin with. The message is clear: prayer is necessary and divine benediction does not just fall into the lap of mankind.

Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599-644
During his time as court organist at Weimar (1708-1714), Bach already started compiling his first collection of chorale arrangements and chorale preludes (compositions based on Lutheran hymns). They were intended to be used in church services, and the preludes were an introduction to congregational singing. According to the list of contents in Bach’s manuscript, it was supposed to have been a collection of 164 compositions, but in the end it did not exceed 46 (BWV 599-644). The order, combined with the limited length of the pieces, indicates that Bach was planning to compile a complete cycle of chorale arrangements. Later, in his period at Köthen, he gave the collection a title page, which reads: ‘Orgel-Büchlein, Worinne einem anfahenden Organisten Anleitung gegeben wird, auff allerhand Arth einen Choral durchzuführen…’ (‘Little organ book, in which a beginner organist is taught to arrange a chorale in all sorts of ways...’). So at the time, he intended the collection just as a teaching manual, maybe to present on his application in 1722 for the post of cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, which was an important teaching position. The pupils must have had a hard time of it, as the preludes contain the complete range of baroque keyboard techniques in a nutshell.

BWV: 636
Title: Vater unser im Himmelreich
Instrument: organ
Genre: organ works
Serie: Orgelbüchlein
Year: ca. 1711-1713

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Credits

Release date

20 March 2025
Recording date

30 May 2024
Location

Walburgiskerk, Zutphen
Organ

Matthias Havinga
Instrument

Henrick Bader, 1639/1643
Director and editor

Gijs Besseling
Music recording

Guido Tichelman, Pim van der Lee
Music edit and mix

Guido Tichelman
Camera

Danny Noordanus, Manon Hoskens, Remco van Leest
Grip

Wouter Visser
Assistant music recording

Marloes Biermans
Producer

Lisanne Marlou de Kok

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