Erster Theil etlicher Choräle (commonly known as Acht Choräle zum Präambulieren, PWC 45–52, T. 1–8, PC 1–8) is a collection of liturgical

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

 organ

Pipe organ

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...

 music by Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...

, published during his lifetime. It contains eight chorale prelude

Chorale prelude

In music, a chorale prelude is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 examples of the form in his Orgelbüchlein.-Function:The liturgical...

s in seven different styles.

General information

Erster Theil etlicher Choräle (literally "First Part of [a collection of] assorted chorales") is one of Pachelbel's earliest publications. It is a mystery, however, when or where it was first published. Johann Mattheson

Johann Mattheson

Johann Mattheson was a German composer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist.Mattheson was born and died in Hamburg. He was a close friend of George Frideric Handel, although he nearly killed him in a sudden quarrel, during a performance of Mattheson's opera Cleopatra in 1704...

 mentions that the first edition appeared before 1693, while the edition lacked any indications of the year of publication. The only copy extant today is a Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 edition by Johann Christoph Weigel, who also published Pachelbel's Hexachordum Apollinis

Hexachordum Apollinis

Hexachordum Apollinis is a collection of keyboard music by Johann Pachelbel, published in 1699. It comprises six arias with variations, on original themes, and is generally regarded as one of the pinnacles of Pachelbel's oeuvre...

(1699) and a reprint of his Musicalische Ergötzung. This copy is marked "1693", however, there are two problems with this date. The first is that it was added by another hand at a later date, the second is that Weigel did not start working in Nuremberg until at least 1698. Thus, the surviving copy must be a second or a third edition. Given the number of reprints, Erster Theil must have enjoyed considerable popularity. The title indicates that Pachelbel may have wished to publish a set of chorale collections, however, no other chorale publications by him are known.

Johann Christoph Bach

Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721)

Johann Christoph Bach , was a German musician and composer. He was the eldest brother of the more famous German musician and composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Christoph studied at Erfurt under Johann Pachelbel, and his library of keyboard music included works by Pachelbel, Johann Jakob...

 (1671–1721), one of Pachelbel's most important pupils, may have assisted with the publication of the first edition of Erster Theil etlicher Choräle, for the engraving closely resembles his handwriting.

A manuscript collection of chorale preludes by Johann Christoph Bach

Johann Christoph Bach

Johann Christoph Bach was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period. He was born at Arnstadt, the son of Heinrich Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's great uncle, hence he was Johann Sebastian's first cousin once removed. He was also the uncle of Maria Barbara Bach, J.S...

 (1642–1703) may have some connection to Pachelbel's Erster Theil, given the similarity of not only the subject but also the titles of both collections:

• Pachelbel: Erster Theil etlicher Choräle welche bey wärendem Gottes Dienst zum Prämbuliren gebrauchet werden können
• Bach: 44 Choräle welche bey wärenden Gottes-Dienst zum Praembuliren gebraucht werden können

It is not known, however, who influenced whom. No other printed collections of chorale preludes survive from the period, making Pachelbel's Erster Theil unique in its choice of subject. Decades after its publication, the collection was singled out by Mattheson, who described the contents as "models [of chorale writing] not to be dismissed" in his Der vollkommene Capellmeister (1739).

Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ

This famous chorale is presented as a very straightforward three-voice piece, with the cantus firmus

Cantus firmus

In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...

 in upper voice and brief snatches of fore-imitation in the lower voices throughout the setting.

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

The chorale Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern , BWV 1, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for the feast of the Annunciation and first performed it on 25 March 1725....

, associated variously with Advent

Advent

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...

, Whit

Whit

Whit, or, Isis amongst the unsaved is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1995. Isis Whit, a young but important member of a small, quirky cult in Scotland, narrates...

, Annunciation

Annunciation

The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...

, and Sundays after Trinity, is set by Pachelbel as a three-voice prelude with the chorale in the bass voice. Pachelbel uses fore-imitation throughout the piece: whenever the next phrase of the chorale is about to begin, the upper voices anticipate its melodic contour in brief imitative passages.

Nun lob, mein Seel', den Herren

This chorale, an old doxology

Doxology

A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...

 setting of Psalm 103

Psalm 103

Psalm 103 is the 103rd psalm from the Book of Psalms . The first verse attributes it to King David, the author of many Psalms. J.A...

, is presented by Pachelbel in a three-voice setting with the cantus firmus in the tenor voice. The arrangement of voices and the white mensural notation, both derived from the German polyphonic song, are unique in Pachelbel's surviving oeuvre, as is the ornamentation used in Wir glauben all an einen Gott.

Vater unser im Himmelreich

The chorale is a famous hymn associated with the Lord's Prayer

Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...

. Pachelbel presents it as a four-voice setting with the chorale in the upper voice. Fore-imitation is used throughout the piece in well-developed three-voice sections, resulting in what Pachelbel scholar Kathryn Welter described as "the most magnificent of the eight preludes [of Erster Theil] in its discipline of construction and richness of harmonies."

Wir glauben all an einen Gott

This setting of the German Creed

Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...

 is the only known example of ornamented cantus firmus setting in Pachelbel's surviving works. The style, which goes back to the time of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the north German organ...

 and Heinrich Scheidemann

Heinrich Scheidemann

Heinrich Scheidemann was a German organist and composer. He was the best-known composer for the organ in north Germany in the early to mid-17th century, and was an important forerunner of Dieterich Buxtehude and J.S. Bach.-Life:...

, was not wholly unknown to Pachelbel, for he would normally use ornamentation in his chorale variations. A possible explanation is that Pachelbel may have been reluctant to use ornamentation in pieces intended for congregational singing. He probably included the piece in Erster Theil as a model. The setting is in three voices, and the ornamented chorale is in the upper voice.

Dies sind dir heil'gen zehn Gebot

The text of the chorale references the Ten Commandments

Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...

. Pachelbel's setting is a four-voice fugue

Fugue

In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....

 in G mixolydian. The first line of the chorale is used as the subject, which appears 11 times. The last statement of the subject is in the lowest voice, establishing with the final notes the pitch the congregation would enter after the piece is performed by the organist.

Jesus Christus unser Heiland, der von uns

This well-known Communion

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

 hymn is treated by Pachelbel in a manner most unexpected for the period: the setting is a bicinium

Bicinium

In music of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras, a bicinium was a composition for only two parts, especially one with a pedagogical purpose.The term has had two usages in music history:...

, i.e. a two-voice piece with the chorale in long notes in one voice and fast ornamental passages in the other voice. Such pieces were very popular about a hundred years before Pachelbel's time, but by the end of the 17th century they were rarely seen. Pachelbel modifies the old form by splitting the bicinium into two sections: the first has the cantus firmus in the upper voice and the ornaments in the lower voice, while the second (starting at bar 30) reverses this arrangement. Further modification of the classic bicinium form occurs when Pachelbel uses the technique of fore-imitation (for which he was particularly known), when the ornamental passages include motifs that anticipate the chorale melody. The technique is used in many instances throughout the piece, including the very first bars.

Von Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her

For the last piece of the collection Pachelbel chose Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

's famous Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 hymn. He sets it as a three-voice piece with the chorale in the bass. Unlike Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern which uses the same arrangement, the upper voices do not provide mere fore-imitation, but engage in highly original figurations. Pachelbel scholar Ewald Nolte suggested that these were probably intended as imitations of birdsong, a somewhat popular phenomenon in the instrumental music of the 17th century. In any case, these fanciful figurations, together with the compound 12/8 meter, suggest a pastoral mood.