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Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness (arr Reed)

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Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (arr. Alfred Reed)


Subtitle: Chorale Prelude


General Info

Year: 1653 / 1724 / 1990
Duration: c. 5:15
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Birch Island Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts - $65.00   |   Score Only - $4.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II-III
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Chimes


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Here is Bach in a quiet, contemplative almost dreamy mood, losing himself in thoughts of the glories of Heaven, creating a beautiful web of melody that will delight both players and audiences alike.

- Program Note from publisher


This chorale was first used by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1724, when Bach began the Leipzig traditions of writing chorale cantatas. The melody itself is by Johann Franck, and dates from 1653. Bach wrote his cantata of this name in a manner he would often use, keeping the chorale melody intact in the first and last stanzas (with an elaborate contrapuntal setting for the opening chorus, with the chorale tune being sung by the sopranos, and a straight four-part chorale to close the cantata). The remaining stanzas of the chorale were transformed into solos, duets, etc. for the intervening movements of the cantata. The chorale also appears as #22 in the 371 Bach-Riemen-schneider collection of harmonized chorales, and it is worth noting that although the chorale appears in Bach’s Cantata #180 of the same name in the key of F, it is transposed to Eb in the “371” collection.

This chorale melody was also used by the nineteenth century composer Johannes Brahms as the basis of the fifth of the eleven chorale preludes for organ he wrote shortly before his death in 1897. This collection of chorale preludes was published in 1902, five years after Brahms’ death, as his Opus 122. Brahms had a great interest in, and love of, early music, and these chorale preludes are an expression of that, as well as being excellent examples of his contrapuntal writing.

Bach himself may have written (or improvised) other chorale preludes on this chorale melody, since it was his custom to improvise on the chorale tune being used in the cantata he had written for each service.

- Program Note from score


Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


State Ratings

  • North Carolina: IV


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Parkland College (Champaign, Ill.) Concert Band (Larry Stoner, conductor) - 10 December 2017

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Bach, J.; Reed, A. (1990). Deck Thyself, My soul, with Gladness : chorale prelude : [for] concert band/wind ensemble [score]. C.L. Barnhouse Music: Oskaloosa, Iowa.
  • Perusal score
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