BACH'S CHORAL PRELUDES
Played by Dr. W. G. ALCOCK
Relayed from
ST. MARGARET'S, WESTMINSTER
An Wasserflussen Babylon (By the Waters of Babylon)
Von Gott will ich nicht lassen (I will not leave my God)
Herr Jesu Christ , dich zu uns wend (Lord Jesu Christ , turn Thee unto us) 0 Lamm Gottes , unsehuldig (0 Lamb of God unspotted)
THE Chorals were in the very blood
-L of Bach. He was reared on them, and from a child the Lutheran Hymn-book was his constant companion. Hia earliest and his last compositions are associated with the Choral, which was to him a symbol of his religion, as indeed it was to the deeply devout German people among whom he lived; and since everything he ever composed was dedicated to the Glory of God, the Chorals figure overwhelmingly in his music. He is known to have made no fewer than 500 settings of some 300 of the melodies in use in the Lutheran' Church. The greater number is to be found in the Cantatas.