New Piano Pieces: “Bach Goes Romantic”
(Updated: May 2022) This article introduces pianists to an exciting new body of piano music -- Cory Hall's own arrangements of Bach's chorales, titled BACH GOES ROMANTIC: 10 Four-Part Chorales Arranged, Volume 1. CLICK HERE to order a hardcopy edition, or CLICK HERE to download a PDF. Originally composed in 2016 under the title 10 Chorale Preludes for Piano, Book 1, Cory changed the title and made some slight decisions in 2021 so that it would be in agreement with his newer second volume, titled, BACH MEETS RAGTIME: 10-Four-Part Chorales Arranged, Volume 2.
BACH GOES ROMANTIC: 10 Four-Part Chorales Arranged, Volume 1 is a diverse and exciting collection of chorale arrangements for piano that remain true to Bach’s originals, yet are fully immersed in the 19th-century romantic style. These are ideal pieces for the studio and concert hall and are relatively difficult ranging from about Grades 6-10. Here is a short summary of each:
I Call On Thee, Lord Jesus Christ (from Cantata 177) —This is the title of one of Busoni’s two most often performed chorales and is one of the most well-known and beloved of all of Bach’s chorales. My arrangement is unique in that it features a a Spanish-style “Habanera” rhythm although in a very slow Adagio tempo. In the key of G minor, it features the chorale melody on top accompanied by a heavily pedaled broken chord accompaniment with the Habanera rhythm and a cadenza before the final phrase.
Jesus, By Whom My Soul Has Been Set Free (from Christmas Oratorio IV) — This is Bach’s only chorale out of nearly 400 in the key of B-flat minor, a highly expressive key with no equal. I set it in a slow and expressive tempo with slow triplets in the right hand accompanied with eighth notes (duplets) in the left hand (creating slow 2:3 polyrhythms). During the the half notes and fermata cadence points in the chorale, I use a short musical interlude that harkens to Spanish music. (Don’t ask me why I seem to be preoccupied with Spanish music mixed in with Bach.) This is technically the least difficult of my arrangements, although it is musically superlative!
Christ, Our Lord, Came to the Jordan (from Cantata 7) — This arrangement is a romanticized Baroque Overture style with a stately and majestic dotted-note introductory section followed by a lively Allegro in 2/2. In the Allegro, the chorale chords are played staccato in the right hand accompanied by exciting and somewhat tricky running fast notes in the left hand, which depicts the water of the Jordan River. (Bach also arranged this famous Martin Luther chorale for organ with the left hand playing fast, scale-like passages to depict the running water of the Jordan River.) This arrangement is exciting and fun to play and its E minor “modal” style, which creates a somewhat “medieval” sound.
Help Us, Lord Jesus (from Christmas Oratorio IV) — This is one of my favorite of all chorale melodies, which the famous Bach scholar Charles Stanford Terry calls an “aria” melody rather than a true “chorale” melody. Nevertheless, this beautiful melody was calling out to me to be accompanied with romantic-style rich, arpeggiated chords along with active middle voices. My setting of this Bach chorale, in F major, is ultra-romantic with many ritardandos and cadences that result in the most rubato out of all my arrangements. This arrangement sounds like sentimentalized Brahms with a hefty dose of rubato.
We Christian People (from the Christmas Oratorio III) — This is one of the most harmonically rich chorales out of nearly 400, which is set in the unusual key of F-sharp minor. Despite the otherwise “slow and sad” key of F-sharp minor, this chorale actually has a unique energy that demands a moderately fast tempo. This energy is created by the 16th notes Bach uses in the opening of the left hand. I use this five-note motive as the basis of the entire piece, thus transforming it into a contrapuntal study with a theme and two variations. This piece works ideally as a finger independence etude as well as an octave etude (the left hand in the second variation features octaves). It is exciting and rewarding to practice and play!
How Beautifully Shines the Morning Star (from Cantata 1) — One of my favorite of all chorale melodies, in the key of F major, this joyous piece is set with rolling triplets in a gigue style accompanied with eighth notes in the left hand. Despite the 2:3 rhythms that may be challenging for intermediate-level pianists, this is one of the two lesser difficult pieces out of all 10 and serves as an excellent etude for students who need work with triplets and 2:3 polyrhythms. This is the most “Baroque” sounding out of all 10 preludes and actually sounds a bit like Handel more so than Bach!
Lord, In Thy Mercy Grant Us Peace (from Cantata 42) — Before choosing this chorale, I did not know it and had never heard it. But after improvising on Bach’s original chorale for a while (in the key of F-sharp minor) I immediately heard some incredible expressive possibilities. And wow, is this ever expressive! Set with many liberal ritardandos and fermatas, this slow rubato-laden chorale has more meaning packed into its three pages than many works of ten pages. This is an absolutely gorgeous piece with lots of pedal, extreme dynamic contrasts, and octaves throughout in the bass line in the left hand. It is the most “romantic” of all 10 pieces.
Lord, Now Let Thy Servant Go In Peace (from the C.P.E. Bach Collection) — This is a very slow-moving and simple chorale, yet highly expressive, which is a funeral chorale (Lord, Now Let Thy Servant Go In Peace) based on the Canticle of Simeon (Nunc dimmitis). In the key of A minor, it is presented in its original form in more practical piano notation (as opposed to the stricter four-part notation) followed by a repetition with octave doublings in the bass. This beautiful prelude is an ideal piece for pianists to learn to maintain a slow but steady beat, learn clean pedaling, and play slow octaves in the left hand. It is technically the least difficult of all 10 pieces.
What God Ordains Is Always Good (from Cantata 12) — Just when I thought all my ideas were all used up and I would no longer compose another chorale prelude (I think I went a few days with no new ideas), I stumbled upon this jubilant chorale in the key of B-flat major and immediately heard some great possibilities. And it turned out to be perhaps my finest Allegro-style chorale, full of energy and virtuosity! In fact, it is the most virtuosic out of all 10, which begins with the theme and proceeds to a powerful Brahmsian style Variation 1 followed by a left-hand-etude-like Variation 2 which concludes with a rousing optional repeat and coda. Wow! Pianists who are blessed with powerful technique and energy will absolutely LOVE this prelude!
Whoever Lets Only The Dear God Reign (from Cantata 84) — This gorgeous and nostalgic-sounding melody in the key of B minor combined with Bach’s masterful choice of chords provides for the longest and perhaps most expressive of all 10 chorales. Flanking the rich, chordal-style theme and its arpeggiated variation is a 7-bar interlude, the number 7 symbolizing perfection. It requires advanced pianism and the ability to achieve unprecedented expression. Whenever I finish playing this beautiful, romantic, and dreamy piece it sounds as if it were composed by Liszt. What better way to conclude a set of ten preludes than this?
Sincerely, Cory Hall (D.M.A.) -- revised, May 2022
