Schübler Chorales

Schübler Chorales is a name commonly used for a collection of six chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 645–650). They were engraved and published in the late 1740s by Johann Georg Schübler, from whom they derive their nickname. The collection is originally entitled "Sechs Choräle von verschiedener Art". The pieces are composed for a two manual organ with obligatory pedal.

Uniquely for Bach's sets of organ works, five out of six chorales in this collection are transcriptions from his cantatas. The following table lists the Schübler Chorales, their German and English names and cantata movements they are transcribed from:

BWV	Chorale Name	Transcribed from
645	Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme ("Wake, Awake for Night is Passing")	Cantata 140, movement 4 (tenor chorale)
646	Woll soll ich fliehen hin ("Whither shall I flee?")	N/A (see below)
647	Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten ("Who allows God alone to rule him")	Cantata 93, movement 4 (duet for soprano and alto)
648	Meine Seele erhebt den Herren ("My soul doth magnify the Lord")	Cantata 10, movement 5 (duet for alto and tenor)
649	Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ ("Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide")	Cantata 6, movement 3 (soprano chorale)
650	Kommst du nun, Jesu, von Himmel herunter ("Come thou, Jesu, from heaven to earth")	Cantata 137, movement 2 (alto solo)

The chorale BWV 646 may have been originally for keyboard. It is not transcribed from a movement of any of the known cantatas by Bach, so if it was in fact transcribed like the other chorales of the set, the original cantata is lost.

External links

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* [http://www.arnorog.nl/drake/index.php?option=downloads&Itemid=50 Schübler-Choräle] in the downloads-section of the website of Arno Rog (formerly free-sheetmusic.org)