Rediscovering Melody

J. S. Bach, young no wig

Today we’re in classical mode. Most scholars believe
J. S. Bach’s last work was a 5 1/2 minute Chorale, “Vor Deinem Thron” (“Before Your Throne”), one of the most extraordinary in the Western Classical repertoire. Knowing that he didn’t have the capacity to complete his comprehensive The Art of Fugue—and he was also now blind—Bach dictated the Chorale from his deathbed.

This work is appreciated by all who hear it, but most listeners do not realize how sophisticated and wholly original in conception this dramatic work truly is. If you listen to the piece again, immediately upon hearing it the first time, then as the Chorale builds to its marvelous conclusion you can receive the full import of what Bach was actually doing. The following commentary has helped many listeners. (more…)

The audio above (and below) plays a very battered,
rare 1964 monaural recording of  Bach’s Chorale,
“Vor Deinem Thron” by The Fine Arts Quartet
and The New York Woodwind Quintet – a stellar
performance that shines through the scratches and clicks,
haunting us like a call from the past. The “Chorale”
enters four times, via the woodwinds, but the
theme doesn’t appear until the very last entrance.