This is my entry for the Secrets of Organ Playing Contest Week 50. The Advent and Christmas theme have been the focus of my entries the past few weeks so this week I have presented Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland, BWV 599 by Johann Sebastian Bach.
"Now come, Saviour of the heathen" is the literal translation of Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland and is a Lutheran chorale which has been associated with the Advent season for many years. Bach wrote several settings of the Nun komm and this particular one comes from the ** Orgelbüchlein** (Little Organ Book). It's actually the first piece in the collection! The Orgelbüchlein contains 45 chorales that cover the entire liturgical year:
- Advent BWV 599–602
- Christmas BWV 603–612
- New Year BWV 613–615
- Epiphany BWV 616–617
- Lent BWV 618–624
- Easter BWV 625–630
- Pentecost BWV 631–634
- Catechism hymns BWV 635–638
- Miscellaneous BWV 639–644
Fast fact: There was actually an Australian organist by the name of Marko Sever who performed the complete Orgelbüchlein in recital. Marko now resides in the UK and is the current Organ Scholar of St. Albans Cathedral.
This was recorded on the Siedlar instrument at St. John Cantius Church, Poland using the Hauptwerk VPO software.
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