Description
Bach's four-part chorales were drawn mostly from the chorale movements of his cantatas and Passions and collected and published after his death by his son C.P.E. Bach and others. Aus meines Herzens Grunde stands first in that collection of 371 chorales. The original hymn is a morning song offering thanks and praise to God.
It is in G major and 3/4, about 54 seconds long with 222 notes. The tune sits in the soprano while the alto, tenor and bass each trace an independent line beneath it, supporting the harmony in typical four-part chorale writing. Short phrases follow one another, divided by fermatas, with the harmony settling at the end of each.
It is rated intermediate because of the part-writing rather than the number of notes. Since it was written for four voices, each hand has to manage two parts and keep the inner voices joined without gaps. The range is narrow, F-sharp 2 to D5, and fits on a 61-key keyboard. Slow the playback to follow each voice, and loop phrase by phrase with A-B looping so the changing harmonies come through clearly.
Chorale settings by Bach, weaving intricate counterpoint around hymn melodies into solemn, prayerful music.
Browse all songs in Chorales →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach was the towering figure of German Baroque music, serving for decades as Cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Renowned for his mastery of counterpoint, he laid the foundations of keyboard music with works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions. This site includes minuets and polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, the Inventions and Sinfonias, and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Notebook pieces are catalogued with BWV Anh. (appendix) numbers, but many are by other composers - Petzold's minuets among them - or by no one known, and most of their song pages give the current view of who wrote them.
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