Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen

Forces or Category: Organ

The Orgelbüchlein Project is a long running project to complete Bach's unfinished collection of organ music. Bach inscribed the title of 164 ...

Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen

Description

The Orgelbüchlein Project is a long running project to complete Bach's unfinished collection of organ music. Bach inscribed the title of 164 Chorales in his manuscript, but only composed 46 of them. This short chorale setting for solo organ is Jackson's contribution to the completion of the set.

Programme Notes:

In 2012 Merton College, Oxford also commissioned Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen, my contribution to organist William Whitehead's Orgelbüchlein Project. The manuscript of J.S. Bach's Orgelbüchlein - a collection of chorale preludes for the church's year - has 118 'missing' pieces, where Bach has only given a title. The purpose of the Orgelbüchlein Project is to invite composers from all over the world to complete the collection by writing new preludes on Bach's intended chorales. Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen is a well-known Passiontide hymn. Robert Bridges translates its first verse as
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.
In my setting the chorale melody is very heavily decorated, while the small repertoire of detached chords that accompany it are unpredictable in their placement, simultaneously halting and inexorable.
Copyright Gabriel Jackson 2016

Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen

Gabriel Jackson

Composer Information

Gabriel Jackson (b.1962)

One of Britain's foremost composers, after three years as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, Gabriel Jackson went on to study composition with Richard Blackford and John Lambert at the Royal College of Music. Particularly acclaimed for his choral works, his liturgical pieces are in the repertoires of most of Britain's cathedral and collegiate choirs and he is a frequent collaborator with the leading professional groups of the world. From 2010-2013 he was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers. In 2014 his hour-long The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, commissioned for the 750th anniversary of Merton College, Oxford, was premiered in its chapel. May 2015 saw the premiere at the Latvian National Opera of Spring Rounds for soprano, choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Riga-based youth choir Kamer for their 25th anniversary. He was recently commissioned by The Marian Consort to write Stabat Mater to mark their 10th anniversary.

Gabriel Jackson's website