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  • The Flowering of the Spirit
    • 2021-2022 Concerts >
      • Clothed Head to Foot in Song
      • World of Wonder
      • Early Music Christmas: Lo How a Rose
      • Sacred Realms: Très Riches Heures
      • Never to Forget
      • Season Finale: Born of the Sun
      • Organ Recital: The Incomparable Herr Buxtehude
    • 2021-22 Educational Events
    • 2021-22 Virtual Offerings >
      • Virtual BachTalks
      • The Choir Loft >
        • June 5th - How Brightly Shines the Morning Star
        • June 12th - Sacred Works by Valentin Silvestrov - Steve Osborn
        • June 26th - Some Music by Palestrina - Comfort in Perfection - Dan Solter
        • July 3rd - William Byrd: Motets and Masses Part One
      • Repertoire Exploration Projects
    • Tickets
    • Donate today!
    • COVID-19 Audience Safety
  • Who we are and What we do
    • Mission Statement
  • Our Ensembles
    • Sonoma Bach Choir
    • Circa 1600
    • Green Mountain Consort
    • Live Oak Baroque Orchestra
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Escrip & Amazon Smile
  • Resources
    • Virtual Offerings - Archive >
      • The Choir Loft
      • Virtual BachTalk
      • Adventures in Sightsinging
      • Parliamo Italiano! Language Workshop
      • Madrigal Mondays
      • Chorale Wednesdays
      • Motet Fridays
      • Virtual Recording Projects
      • Virtual Concerts >
        • Live Oak Baroque Orchestra
        • Music for these Distracted Times - Barefoot All-Stars
        • Agave Baroque American Originals
        • Bach's Long Walk to Lübeck - Anne Laver, organ
    • Concert Programs
    • Scores & Parts
    • Rehearsal Recordings
  • Contact
  • Join our Mailing List!
Jesus Christus unser Heiland
As I've mentioned before, these pandemic projects have been a real boon for me, since they are compelling me to push further and further into the (by me) unknown. The some 30 chorales which I knew well before the Covid have turned into almost 70 at this point.

And of course it's not just the tunes themselves, remarkable and singable and attractive as they are; it's all the wonderful things that have been done with them by composers down through the ages.

Today we have a chorale which I did know--slightly--before all this. And I became aware of it in a funny way. Several years ago, I stumbled upon a CD called 'Terra Mofino' (an anagram of 'Reformation'), by a German jazz trio called Continuum. The album contains 10 tracks, each of them based upon a Martin Luther chorale. Some of you will recall that I've sent out a few of these tracks in connection with earlier projects.

When I first listened to the Continuum CD, I was puzzled by their arrangement of Luther's Easter chorale 'Jesus Christus, unser Heiland'. Not only was I not familiar with the chorale, but I couldn't really even find it in the texture. It seemed like little irregular snatches of melody, rather than an organized melodic structure.

Well: That's actually a pretty good description of the tune. Take a look at it below. It has a very limited range; its five phrases are irregular and rather cramped; the last two phrases are nearly the same as the first; and the middle phrase is just odd.

And yet: Unpromising as it might look, some pretty danged cool music has been based upon this tune.

Bach's independent chorale 364 (recording here) rests the tune upon a wide-ranging bass
and very active middle lines;

Bach's brief Orgelbüchlein chorale prelude, BWV 626 (recording here), places the melody, very straight, in the top voice, while lower voices trade several odd little motifs back and forth;

Michael Praetorius' 8-part setting from 'Musae Sioniae II' is a far larger conception, incorporating all three verses into an extended setting for 8-part double-choir. The very nice recording demonstrates a technique which Praetorius himself suggested: Covering certain parts with voices, and other parts with instruments. This often has the effect of making a performance both more personal and more ethereal, as it does here;

And finally, here's a link to that Continuum recording mentioned above. (It's also attached.) I love their interpretations for their divers means of bringing a melody to life, and for their thoughtful improvisations which always seem, even in their furthest explorations, to remember and to honor the melody
​upon which each piece is based.
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