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Pages devoted to my favorite music, realized for MIDI with the JEUX SoundFont. These files assume you have loaded the latest version of the JEUX SoundFont in user bank 42 — if not, the results will be very strange indeed!

- John W. McCoy

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German Organ Music

Johann Sebastian Bach

• The Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599-644 — Another labor of love. We have realized all 46 chorales for the Jeux SoundFont.
• The six Schübler Chorales, BWV 645-650, including the famous "Sleepers, Awake" chorale BWV 645 (ZIP file). This collection was published during Bach's lifetime by Johann Georg Schübler, presumably with Bach's permission. Five of the six are known to be transcriptions of movements from the cantatas. No prior source have been discovered for BWV 646, but it could well have been derived from a cantata that has been lost.
  • BWV 645 (Play MP3), "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" ("Sleepers, awake")
  • BWV 646 (Play MP3), "Wo soll ich fliehen hin"
  • BWV 647 (Play MP3), "Wer nun den lieben Gott lässt walten"
  • BWV 648 (Play MP3), "Mein Seele erhebt den Herren"
  • BWV 649 (Play MP3), "Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ"
  • BWV 650 (Play MP3), "Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter"
• "In Dulci Jubilo" (BWV 751, possibly not by Bach, but still a good piece to illustrate the use of the Zimbelstern!)
• The Preludes, Toccatas, and Fugues, mainly from BWV 531-590. (ZIP file, about 1.6 MB) These are the big showpieces that set the standard for organists even today. We spent years working on these pieces, trying to get beyond the notes to the essence of each movement. The collection now includes our interpretations of the following works:
  • BWV 531 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in C Major
  • BWV 532 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in D Major
  • BWV 533 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in E Minor
  • BWV 534 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in F Minor
  • BWV 535 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in G Minor
  • BWV 536 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in A Major
  • BWV 537 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in C Minor
  • BWV 538 (Play MP3), Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, "Dorian". Not often performed, probably due to its length and the demands it makes on the organist. Nevertheless, it is one of the best of Bach's organ works.
  • BWV 539 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in D Minor, "Fiddle Fugue"
  • BWV 540 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in F Major. Though the prelude is often treated as a showpiece and the fugue consequently ignored, they are really an inseparable pair. The link between them is the subject of thanksgiving. I am well aware of the harm done to the understanding of Bach's music by commentators who proclaimed everything ever written by Bach to be a prayer, but in this case, there is something to this idea. At first sight, the prelude looks like a musette, hence our opening registration. The rhythmic form is something like a passepied, until the sharp chords appear on the main manual. Listening to the piece at just the right moment, I heard the unmistakable sound of triumph, or more exactly, of exultation and vindication. The prelude reminds me very much of some of the psalms and especially of the Song of Hannah (I Samuel 2). The interludes of the musette/passepied motif seem to recount some of the details of the narrative, but the Hauptwerk or Grand Orgue comes back and fairly crows, "I won!" Having got that out of our system, we can then settle down to savor the humble prayer of thanks that follows. If you think this interpretation far-fetched, consider how easy it would be to turn this prelude and fugue into the opening of a cantata with exactly such a text.
  • BWV 541 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in G Major.
  • BWV 542 (Play MP3), Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor.
  • BWV 543 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in A Minor.
  • BWV 544 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, "Great", pro organo pleno
  • BWV 545 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in C Major, "Weimar", in organo pleno
  • BWV 546 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in C Minor
  • BWV 547 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in C Major, "Leipzig". To me, the Prelude is closely related to the whole genus of keyboard trumpet-call music, especially Dandrieu's "Duo en Cors de Chasse sur la Trompette". I think it sounds just right on the Trompette, and the Fugue carries on the general exuberance with a combination of Clairon, Fagotto, and principals. The Fugue is played vigorously but broadly (observing the cut-time marking), with long flowing lines. There are no breaks in the action, so the only change of registration is the introduction in the second half of a strong pedal with the theme in augmentation. I have heard BWV 547 played entirely on full organ, making the Prelude extremely ponderous and necessitating much slower tempi. Here, as in many other of Bach's works, the lighter approach seems better.
  • BWV 548 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, "Wedge Fugue". A typical example of Bach's suave E Minor style, the Prelude is full of arabesques and syncopations. Registration uses the string tones that were becoming popular at that time. The Fugue is very much a concertante piece; even in some of the fugal sections, it is the ensemble that matters, rather than the strict progression of subject and countersubject. Some of the motifs of the Prelude seem to have their answers in the Fugue. The registration attempts to highlight the different groups of thematic material by relieving the principal sound with strings, reeds, and mixtures. This Prelude and Fugue make a stunning pair.
  • BWV 549 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in C Minor.
  • BWV 550 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in G Major.
  • BWV 551 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in A Minor.
  • BWV 552 (Play MP3), Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, "St. Anne's". Always a favorite! The prelude will never fail to please. The fugue, however, presents some difficulties in interpretation, particularly in the choice of tempos for the three sections traditionally held to symbolize the Trinity. Since there are no specific indications of tempo, we decided to make a literal interpretation of the time signatures of the three sections, with the additional assumption that the first fugal subject should be played at the same speed when it reappears in the final section. The result is quite dramatic.
  • BWV 564 (Play MP3), Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C Major.
  • BWV 565 (Play MP3), Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. This is the work made so famous in the orchestral arrangement of Stokowski and in innumerable movies. It's authenticity has been questioned, and it is certainly true that, in spite of its obvious dramatic effectiveness, it is not up to the same technical standards as many of the other big organ works of Bach. That will not stop us from playing it, however!
  • BWV 566 (Play MP3), Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E Major. Along with the BWV 538, the "Dorian" Prelude and Fugue, and BWV 572, the Fantasia in G Minor, this work is among the most expansive of Bach's creations. When the fugue finally arrives, it seems to call for the grandest reeds available. But toward the end, the soprano lets loose with a brilliant musical torrent that should put to rest forever the misguided notion that Bach was a model of reserved formality. Why BWV 565 became so famous, yet BWV 566 is almost never heard, is a mystery to us.
  • BWV 572 (Play MP3), Fantasia in G Major.
  • BWV 575 (Play MP3), Fugue in C Minor. This one is a sort of twin to BWV 578, the "Little" Fugue in G Minor. Both are notable for their elegant clarity that have made them the model for the fugal form.
  • BWV 577 (Play MP3), "Fugue à la Gigue". Did Bach write this, or did someone else? Another famous fugue in the form of a gigue is by Buxtehude. Both are completely charming, and both present some registrational challenges in making the quick passages speak clearly.
  • BWV 578 (Play MP3), Fugue in G Minor, "Little". This is the fugue that is best known and best understood by audiences all over the world. It is clear and succinct without being pedantic. It needs only the simplest registration, and would not benefit from any sort of excess.
  • BWV 582 (Play MP3), Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor. Why have I heard so many boring recordings of this wonderful piece? Roughly the first half of the variations of the passacaglia are written in such a way that the organist has a free hand at the end of each variation, fairly inviting stop changes. Then the character of the variations changes, again inviting changes in registration, articulation, and tempo. The last several variations, as well as the fugue, are written in a way that seems to require full organ, as well as careful articulation. There is no excuse for making this piece boring!
  • BWV 590 (Play MP3), Pastorale in F. In the form that this piece has come down to us, it has the appearance of being intended for use in some other work. Among other clues, the odd sequence of key signatures! Could the movements have been incidental music for a Christmas pageant? Could the movements have served as interludes between vocal pieces in different keys?
  • BWV 768 (Play MP3), Partita on "Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig". Even though this delightful set of variations is based on a hymn, it seems more at home here with Bach's more secular organ pieces. The contrasting sections explore the resources of the organ. Selecting the registrations was easy: each section is easily recognized as a solo, a duo, a trio, a piece for full organ, etc. The penultimate variation seems right at home in a "three-handed" realization, with the right hand giving the chorale phrases on the sesquialtera, and the interludes on the great organ. The disposition of the notes where the registration needs to change in this variation makes this possible even for a two-handed organist.
• The Leipzig Chorales, BWV 651-668. New realizations, starting from scratch and rendering the scores as faithfully as possible, are now available in a ZIP file, which also contains some notes about the pieces. By my count, these are 18 preludes on 12 chorales.
  • BWV 651 (Play MP3), Fantasia super "Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott"
  • BWV 652 (Play MP3), "Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott"
  • BWV 653 (Play MP3), "An Wasserflüssen Babylon"
  • BWV 654 (Play MP3), "Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele"
  • BWV 655 (Play MP3), Trio super "Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend"
  • BWV 656 (Play MP3), "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig"
  • BWV 657 (Play MP3), "Nun danket alle Gott"
  • BWV 658 (Play MP3), "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen"
  • BWV 659 (Play MP3), "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"
  • BWV 660 (Play MP3), Trio super "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"
  • BWV 661 (Play MP3), "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"
  • BWV 662 (Play MP3), "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr"
  • BWV 663 (Play MP3), "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr"
  • BWV 664 (Play MP3), Trio super "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr"
  • BWV 665 (Play MP3), "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland"
  • BWV 666 (Play MP3), "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland" (alio modo)
  • BWV 667 (Play MP3), "Komm Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist"
  • BWV 668 (Play MP3), "Vor deinen Thron tret ich"
• Even more chorales
  • BWV 682 (Play MP3), "Vater unser in Himmelreich". A difficult but remarkably affecting setting of the Lord's Prayer, to me strongly related to Franck's "Prière". The counterpoint is intricate, the motifs unusually angular, with the result that the long notes, blossoming as they are reinforced by their own echoes, create a most brilliant effect.
  • BWV 684 (Play MP3), "Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam". In this setting, Christ seems to be accompanied by a tumbling, jostling, unstoppable multitude over rocks and hills toward the River Jordan.

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