Preludio corale 'Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland', BWV 599
Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 599, is the first piece of the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) by Johann Sebastian bach, a collection of 46 preludes for organ almost exclusively written during the 1708-1717 period, while Bach was court organist in Weimar. The collection is defined by Bach himself in the title page as '[a book] in which a beginning organist receives given instruction as to performing a chorale in a multitude of ways while achieving mastery in the study of the pedal, since in the chorales contained herein the pedal is treated entirely obbligato'. This particular piece is based on Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland, a text by Martin Luther, itself based on the second verse of Ambrosius of Milan's Intende qui regis Israel. Luther’s German chorale text first appeared in print in Erfurt, 1524. The melody, on the other hand, comes from a Roman Catholic Latin hynm based on a Gregorian chant. Bach probably was acquainted with the melody as present in the Weißenfels hymnal of 1714, and created many works around it.
