Bach - Goldschmidt: Awake, the voice commands (1947) 5'
Bach's chorale 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme' BWV 645 transcribed for orchestra
Scoring
2(II=picc).2(II=corA).2.2-4.2.2.1-timp-strings
World Premiere
6/30/2002
St.Johns, Smith Square, London
Royal Orchestral Society / Tim Redmond
Repertoire Note
Goldschmidt’s admiration for Bach was lifelong and this orchestral adaptation of the famous chorale Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme was no doubt intended as a personal tribute. It was originally made in the 1930s for a Jewish orchestra in Berlin, but the score was subsequently lost. In 1947, Goldschmidt made a second transcription, but without, it appears, any performance ever taking place. Goldschmidt's arrangement is conceived in a similar spirit to the grandiose Bach orchestrations of Elgar, Schoenberg and Stokowski, building powerfully from a pianissimo statement on the clarinet to a final ringing climax for the full orchestra.
Bach's chorale 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme' BWV 645 transcribed for orchestra
Scoring
2(II=picc).2(II=corA).2.2-4.2.2.1-timp-strings
World Premiere
6/30/2002
St.Johns, Smith Square, London
Royal Orchestral Society / Tim Redmond
Repertoire Note
Goldschmidt’s admiration for Bach was lifelong and this orchestral adaptation of the famous chorale Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme was no doubt intended as a personal tribute. It was originally made in the 1930s for a Jewish orchestra in Berlin, but the score was subsequently lost. In 1947, Goldschmidt made a second transcription, but without, it appears, any performance ever taking place. Goldschmidt's arrangement is conceived in a similar spirit to the grandiose Bach orchestrations of Elgar, Schoenberg and Stokowski, building powerfully from a pianissimo statement on the clarinet to a final ringing climax for the full orchestra.
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