Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her

For the organ, a favorite Christmas chorale from Bach

 

Hymns and Carols of Christmas: Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her

From Tim Smith: Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her

 

BWV 603, 605, 606
Organist: Marie-Claire Alain
BWV 606 In the Christmas group of the Orgelbüchlein the hymn records the Angelic annunciation of the new-born Christ. By ascending and descending scale passages Bach indicates the presence of the heavenly host.

 

BWV 700
Organist: Hans Fagius
Virtually baroque.
The movement is a Fughetta, for the manuals, on the first two phrases of the melody. In more vivid colours Bach paints again the Orgelbüchlein picture. The brilliant scale passages not only represent the ascending and descending angels, but sound joyous peals from many belfries ringing in the Saviour’s birth. Five copies of the movement, an early work, are extant, one of them in the Kirnberger Collection, another in the Schicht mss. Terry.

 

BWV 701
Virtually Baroque
Organist unknown
A Fugue on the melody, phrase by phrase, without attempt at pictorial treatment. There are seven texts of the movement, a youthful work, in the Kirnberger, Schelble, and other collections. Terry.

 

BWV 738
Virtually Baroque
An Organ accompaniment of the melody; many scales. Organist unknown.

 

BWV 769
Virtually Baroque
Comments by Charles S. Terry

Posted by on 2009, December 11 at 04:43 PM


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JSBChorales.net offers free midi, QT and PDF files of Bach's four-part harmonized chorales. They can be downloaded individually or in complete sets. Be aware that other sites offering files downloaded from this site in the past may not have current updates. Please see Chorale Editions, File Accuracy.

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