Neumeister Chorales

Neumeister Chorales is the name commonly used for a recently discovered set of chorale preludes compiled by Johann Gottfried Neumeister (1757–1840) after 1790. The manuscript was passed onto Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770–1846), whose library was bought by Lowell Mason in 1852. After Mason's death in 1873, his collection was acquired by Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (USA), where it lay - ms. LM 4708 - until it was discovered by Wilhelm Krumbach. Bach's chorales in the Neumeister Collection were known about by several organists, including Krumbach and Joseph Payne, prior to the official authentication of the works by Christoph Wolff in 1984. Payne made the world-premiere recording of Bach's chorales contained in this collection at St. Paul's Church in Brookline, Massachusetts, working from a photostat of the Yale Manuscript. This was prior to the recording by Werner Jacob at Arlesheim Cathedral in Switzerland, in collaboration with Prof. Wolff's, whose edition was published by the Neue Bach-Ausgabe.

The Neumeister Collection consists of 82 organ chorales (38 of which are believed to be by Johann Sebastian Bach). BWVs 1090–1120, and BWVs 714, 719, 737, 742 and 756 are believed to be some of Bach's earliest works, and display a great variety of techniques. Through this variety, one can witness Bach's initial development as a composer, partly through relying on existing models (by composers such as Johann Pachelbel, Johann Michael Bach and Johann Christoph Bach) and partly through original invention and experimentation.

Also in the collection are 25 works by Johann Michael Bach, 3 by Johann Christoph Bach, 1 by Daniel Erich, 1 by Johann Pachelbel, 5 by Georg Andreas Sorge, 4 by Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, and 5 anonymous works.