8019 – Singet den Herrn BWV 225

Sing Ye to the Lord

J. S. Bach

Arranged by Roger Harvey for Brass Octet

Difficulty: Hard

Price: £25.00

Programme notes:

The probable first performance of this 8 part motet was on12 May 1727, the Birthday of Friedrich August, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony.
Motets were generally used as introits to the church service and Bach wrote relatively few of this style of choral piece as, at his time, the tradition was to use existing works from an earlier generation rather than compose new items. Bach's motets were probably all written for special occasions or feast days so, as a gesture towards traditional practice, he tended to copy earlier styles in their contrapuntal manner.
This motet is written for a double chorus; special feasts days allowed the use of a larger body of singers than normal. Although it uses a chorale for the basis of the central section it resembles an instrumental concerto in shape, fast-slow-fast and is therefore very suitable for transcription.
This version is for 2 choirs consisting of 2 trumpets and 2 trombones.

Performance notes:

All markings are editorial and can be ammended or ignored at the musical discretion of the performers.

Keep the style light and the texture clear, especially in the thicker contrapuntal sections.

In the final section, where the 2 choirs simply double up, the music may be shared between the choirs if desired.

This Piece is also available in an arrangement for tentet (4.1.4.1) BrassWorks: 10067