Wo soll ich fliehen hin

Wo soll ich fliehen hin

BWV 694 performed by Leo van Doeselaar
Walloon Church, Amsterdam

Behind the music

Story
Story
Extra videos
Extra videos
Credits
Credits

A chorale melody that is laden with doom

Bach's early organ compositions were snatched from oblivion by Kirnberger

Bach cherished many of his compositions, ensuring they were collected, recycled or – if at all possible – published. But there are also pieces that did not receive this treatment, including the concise chorale arrangement Wo soll ich fliehen hin, BWV 694. The fact that it has survived is due only to Bach’s pupil Kirnberger, who collected twenty-four organ compositions, among other works, following his master’s death. The most remarkable thing about this collection is the lack of cohesion. The only thing that might connect the works is that they probably all date from the period before 1710.

Bach used the same chorale melody later on for another organ arrangement, BWV 646, which he published along with five others in the latter part of his life. So the youthful work on the same melody probably did not pass Bach’s own critical test. For music-lovers, however, it is very good that the piece survived, as this earlier version shows that Bach changed the emphasis later on.

The words of the chorale are about the fearful sinner who diligently tries to escape the clutches of the devil, and finds redemption and peace in the blood of Jesus. Above the doom-laden chorale melody in the pedal, which unfurls frightfully slowly and is therefore unrecognisable, the right hand plays a hurried escape motif. Nevertheless, the cheerful undertone in the left hand reveals that there will be a satisfactory outcome. In the even shorter BWV 646, the mood is also clearly hopeful. But the big difference is that Bach has filtered out the impending doom of the pedal. The message he gives is one of joy and encouragement. For the young Bach, however, hell and damnation must have been continually lying in wait.

Kirnbergerschen Sammlung, BWV 690-713
Bach cherished a great many of his compositions, ensuring that they were collected or recycled, and – if at all possible – published. But there are also pieces that missed the boat, such as the twenty-four early organ compositions now known as the Kirnbergerschen Sammlung. We owe the survival of these works to Bach’s pupil Johann Kirnberger, who collected twenty-four organ compositions, among other pieces, following the death of his master. The most striking thing about this collection is its lack of cohesion. The only similarity between the works is that they probably all date from the period before 1710.

BWV
694
Title
Wo soll ich fliehen hin
Instrument
organ
Genre
organ works
Serie
Kirnbergerschen Sammlung (organ)
Year
1739
City
before 1710?
Special notes
BWV 646 is a later arrangement of this chorale.

Extra videos

Organist Leo van Doeselaar

“The two parts, to be played on different manuals are fighting out a duel, allowing each other no rest at all.”

Vocal texts

Original

Translation

Credits

  • Release date
    15 May 2015
  • Recording date
    24 June 2013
  • Location
    Walloon Church, Amsterdam
  • Organist
    Leo van Doeselaar
  • Organ
    Christian Müller, 1734
  • Producer
    Frank van der Weij
  • Film director
    Jan Van den Bossche
  • Directors of photography
    Sal Kroonenberg, Ruben van den Broeke
  • Grip
    Antoine Petiet
  • Music production, editing and mix
    Holger Schlegel
  • Film editor
    Dylan Glyn Jones
  • Colorist
    Jef Grosfeld
  • Interview
    Onno van Ameijde
  • Production assistants
    Marco Meijdam, Zoë de Wilde

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