Johann Sebastian Bach
( 1685 - 1750 )
Three Memorial Chorale Preludes

Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott  ( S. 721 )
Alle Menschen müssen sterben  (S. 643)
Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit   (S. 106)

Edited and/or arranged for Organ
Ornamented and/or adapted from original source scores by
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Ennis Fruhauf

(8 pages of music)

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Click on the link below to download a PDF booklet
available in 2025
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   JSBach3MemorialChoralePreludes  

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685 ― sharing the same birth year as Georg Frideric Handel and Domenico Scarlatti ― and died in Leipzig in 1750. The two chorale preludes and a transcription of a gentle sinfonia from one of his cantatas are presented here as a memorial offering, suitable for somber rites and recognitions of the loss of loved ones.

The organ chorale prelude on Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott shares its title and text with an alto aria that appears near the end of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, Part 2. It appears to be a miscellaneous setting for organ, not in-cluded in any of the formal collections of the Orgelbüchlein, Clavierübung Volume III, or the 18 Great Chorales. The version offered in this triptych has been extensively ornamented, but for convenient reference a website link for PDF download of the original unornamented score  has been provided.

The chorale prelude from the Orgel-Büchlein on Alle Menschen müssen sterben has been similarly ornamented in a gently stylistic manner, but the score provides the original setting, along with interpolations of an elaborated ver-sion.

And finally, the gentle instrumental Sinfonia from Cantata (S. 106), Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (Actus Tragi-cus), is an organ transcription; alas, it is offered in an imperfect rendition that does not do justice to the flauto dolce duet occurring in the soprano melodic lines. As a convenience, a free-use PDF presentation of the movement (and entire cantata) is available via an Internet link provided here, courtesy of Musescore.com.

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Click on the links below to open PDF scores
courtesy of Musescore.com
available in 2025
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Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott   (S. 721)
.Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit   (S. 106)
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