Neumeister Choräle, not by J.S. Bach, Part I

New edition available here:
http://partitura.org/index.php/neumeister-chorale-not-by-j-s-bach-part-i

Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757 - 1840) was born in Ebersdorf, in Turingia. He studied organ, composition and theory with Georg Andreas Sorge in Lobenstein. In 1790 he moved to Friedberg where he became German teacher at the latin school. Besides teacher he was second organist in the Stadtkirche. In 1807 he became conrector of the school of Homburg von der H"ohe and organist in the Stadtkirche of the same city. He performed these duties untill 1831. He died in Homburg in 1840.

Nowadays Neumeister would have been forgotten if it wasn't for the collection of chorale preludes he compiled in the years shortly after 1790. This collection, called the "Neumeister Collection" or the "Neumeister Sammlung", is a compilation of 82 chorale preludes and was rediscovered in 1985. It attracted a lot of attention because it contained 39 chorale preludes attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach, 32 of which were previously unknown. One of the attributions to J.S. Bach in the manuscript has been questioned since the discovery of the manuscript, but that still leaves 31 previously unknown works. These works are undoubtedly from Bach's early years and are therefore of rather more historic than of musical interest. Besides the works by J.S. Bach the manuscript containes 43 works by other composers. The largest number (26) of these are attributed to Johann Michael Bach, the son of the brother of the grandfather of Johann Sebastian. Johann Michael was the first father-in-law of Johann Sebastian as well, though he was long dead when Johann Sebastian married Maria Barbara, daughter of Johann Michael. The rediscovery of the Neumeister Collection quadrupled the number of keyboard works indisputably written by Johann Michael Bach, from eight to thirty-two. Five of the preludes in the manuscript are unattributed to a composer, and they are possibly written by Johann Michael Bach as well. It has been suggested that the 77 earliest works in the collection may have been copied from a single source, possibly a Bach family album put together in J.S. Bach's early years. The five works by Neumeister's own music teacher, Georg Andreas Sorge, were a later addition.

Neumeister was probably not a very able musician. Not only does the content of the Neumeister Collection indicate he was not a very technically gifted organist (most of the pieces are playable with hands alone), the manuscript contains lots of transcription errors as well. Notes of the chorale melody are somtimes missing, voice are disappearing and appearing seemingly at random, sometimes unlikely harmonies are written, or notes are just plainly wrong. These all indicate a less then proficient grasp of music and it's theory. Or else Neumeister was just very sloppy and careless in his transcription work. We should nevertheless be gratefull to him. Thanks to his collection we can now enjoy 26 pieces by Johann Michael Bach that were previously unknown.

Most of the attention went to the works in the Neumeister by J.S. Bach. The works by Johann Michael Bach are nevertheless equally interesting, and perhaps more so. Where the works by J.S. Bach are from his early years, the work by J.M. Bach show a much more mature craft. They show us how deep the musical talent ran in the Bach family. The works by the other composers in the Neumeister Collection are of equally high quality, with the possible exception of the five works by Georg Andreas Sorge.

Johann Michael Bach (1648 - 1694) was the brother of Johann Christoph Bach and, more notably, the father of Maria Barbara, the first wife of her distant cousin Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Michael was educated first by his father, Heinrich Bach, and then by the cantor of Arnstadt, Jonas de Fletin, who seems to have groomed in the boy a strong interest in vocal music. In 1665 Johann Michael took over from his brother as organist at the Arnstadt castle chapel, and in 1673 he became the town organist in Gehren, where he lived until his death. As well as composing music, he made musical instruments, including organs and harpsichords. He was said to be quiet and reserved, and was regarded as a highly skilled composer at the time. Another composer in the Neumeister Collection is Johann Christoph Bach (1642 - 1703), the eldest son of Heinrich Bach and (thus) older brother of Johann Michael Bach. In 1685 he was appointed town organist at St George's in Eisenach and also to the post of organist and harpsichordist in the court Kapelle of the Duke of Eisenach. He retained both positions until his death. Johann Christoph Bach is considered to be the most important composer of the Bach-family, after Johann Sebastian Bach. Though he was primarily an organist and a harpsichordist there remain few keyboard works of his hand. Besides Johann Michael Bach, Johann Christoph Bach and Johann Sebastian Bach, the Neumeister manuscript features some works by Zachow. These were already known from other manuscripts, so they were not as much a surprise as the works by the two Bach family members. The Neumeister manuscript also contains one work by Daniel Erich (1649 - 1712). Erich studied with Buxtehude and became organist at the parish church in Güstrow (also the Marienkirche) in 1679, a position he held until his death. Besides organist Erich also enjoyed a high reputation as an organ teacher and authority on the instrument. Until the discovery of the Neumeister manuscript only three of his compositions were known. The Neumeister contained an new work by his hand, the prelude to ``Christum wir sollen loben schon".

Some of the works are worth mentioning in this introduction. First there is the prelude to "Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ''. This work was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach and included into the catalog "Bachwerke-verzeichnis" as BWV 723. Neumeister attributes it to Johann Michael Bach. So who is the author of this piece? Bach or Bach? Present Edition follows the ascription of Neumeister. Whoever wrote this work, it is a beautiful piece of music.

In the nineteenth century the prelude to "In dulci jubilo'' was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach as well and included into the catalog "Bachwerke-verzeichnis" as BWV 751. In the Neumeister manuscript it is however ascribed to Johann Michael Bach. Since the authorship of Johann Sebastian Bach had already been frequently doubted, Johann Michael Bach is probably the true author. It is composed in a pastoral manner and shows a jovial, playful character.

Erich's prelude to "Christum wir sollen loben schon'' is worth a mention as well. It is a fantastic work that brings something unique to the genre of the choral prelude. It has a virtuosic introduction after which the choral melody is played with the bass voice. Erich bases the accompaniment in the other three voices on the first phrase of the choral melody. With its repeated notes and the sixteenth motive, it creates a strong pulse that drives the piece onwards. Combine that with some unusual harmonies and you have a unique piece.

Johann Michael Bach's prelude to "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr'' is known from two other sources as well: The Frankenberg manuscript (Nederlands Muziekinsituut) and Mus. ms. 30439 (Staatsbibliothek Berlin). The major difference with the other two versions is that Neumeister does not indicate the use of two manuals (and pedal) as both other sources do. For the rest this version is more like the one in manuscript Mus. ms. 30439 with little differences in voice leading. Those difference could be the result of errors in Neumeister's transcription, as he makes numerous mistakes in the other pieces in his manuscript as well.

Johann Christoph Bach features in the first half of the manuscript with a prelude to "Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr''. Interesting in this work is that the segments between the different phrases of the chorale melody follow quite naturally from that melody, especially in the first half of the work.

Finally, the prelude to "Mag ich Unglück nicht widerstahn'' should be mentioned. Neumeister attributes this chorale prelude to Johann Michael Bach. In other sources it is attributed to Johann Pachelbel. A reason often given for this confusion is that Pachelbel's name was sometimes written as Bachelbel, and abbreviated as Bach. Since Neumeister's manuscript is believed to be reliable as far as attributions are concerned, present edition follows his attribution. It is a beautifully crafted piece of music, with the chorale melody in the upper voice, and an accompaniment based on motives from the melody.

The source for this Edition is the Neumeister Collection, owned by the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University, available as a digital copy at Bach Digital (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004260). This Edition contains the first half of the chorale preludes not by J.S Bach from the Neumeister Collection. Part II contains the second half. The works appear in the order in which they appear in the Neumeister Collection, with the exception of Sorge's "Vater unser im Himmelreich'': that work appears on page 47 of the manuscript, a page presumably left open and later filled with this prelude by Sorge. All five chorale preludes by Sorge are grouped together at the end of part II of present Edition.

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