Events
Autumn Organ Recitals 2026 in partnership with Whitefriar Street Church
The Music of J. S. Bach featuring
Part Three of the Clavier-Übung
It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you our second Annual Autumn Bach series, which we are delighted again to co-present with our friends and colleagues at Whitefriar Street.
This year we incorporate the complete Klavierübung III. The title page of this work translates thus:
“Third Part of Keyboard Practice, consisting of various preludes on the Catechism and other hymns for the organ. Prepared for music-lovers and particularly for connoisseurs of such work, for the recreation of the spirit, by Johann Sebastian Bach, Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Court Composer, Kapellmeister and director of the chorus musicus, Leipzig. Published by the author.”
The collection has long been regarded as one of the pinnacles of Bach’s output. The main body of the work is a series of chorale preludes comprising the Lutheran Missa and the six catechism chorales, framed by a Prelude and Fugue in E flat major and interpolated by four duets. Its setting twice of each chorale is to represent Luther’s greater and lesser catechisms. The “lesser” settings are for manuals only, but many are far from straightforward. The four duets have provoked a good deal of debate – early Bach biographer Spitta asserts that they found their way into the manuscript by accident – and debate has raged ever since. Nonetheless, we have a rare opportunity to hear them in this series.
We are delighted to be able to use the splendid instrument and beautiful surroundings of Whitefriars for this series, and I am especially pleased that their Director of Music, Dr Carole O’Connor, has agreed to play one of the recitals. Equally welcome are Stuart Nicholson, my colleague from St Patrick’s Cathedral, and Fergal Caulfield, keyboard player extraordinaire. As ever, I am grateful for their help, hard work, wisdom and insight to my colleagues David O’Shea and Andrew Johnstone, with whom I form the remainder of the lineup. Each recitalist has been invited to curate a programme around their selected Klavierübung III movements, and we have some interesting substrands in several concerts, notably transcriptions of or by Bach and completions of works left incomplete by him
David Leigh
31 OCTOBER – ANDREW JOHNSTONE
Prelude in E-flat major BVW 552/1
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 715
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 711
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 676
Dies sind die heil’gen zehn Gebot’ BWV 678
Dies sind die heil’gen zehn Gebot’ BWV 679
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 717
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 677
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 675
Fantasia and Fugue in C minor BWV 562 completed by A.J.
7 NOVEMBER – DAVID LEIGH
Prelude and Fugue in G major BWV 541
Vater Unser in Himmelreich BWV 682
Vater Unser in Himmelreich BWV 683
Fantasia in C major BWV 573 completed by Wolfgang Stockmeier (1931–2015)
Fugue in B minor on a theme of Corelli5 BWV 79
Vater Unser in Himmelreich BWV 636
Vater Unser in Himmelreich BWV 737
Prelude and Fugue in G major BWV 550
14 NOVEMBER – FERGAL CAULFIELD
Prelude and Fugue in E minor BWV 533
Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam BWV 684
Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam BWV 685
Partita: Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig BWV 768
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland BWV 688
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland BWV 689
Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott BWV 721
Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542
21 NOVEMBER – STUART NICHOLSON
Sinfonia from Cantata No 29 ‘Wir danken dir, Gott’ arranged by Marcel Dupré (1886–1971)
Kyrie, Gott Vater BWV 669
Christe, aller Welt Trost BWV 670
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist BWV 671
Concerto in A minor BWV 593 arranged from a Concerto for Two Violins by Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) RV 522
Kyrie, Gott Vater BWV 672
Christe, aller Welt Trost BWV 673
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist BWV 674
Chaconne from Violin Partita No 2 in D minor 1004 arranged by Colin MacKnight (b. 1993)
28 NOVEMBER – CAROLE O'CONNOR
Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir BWV 1099
Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir BWV 687
Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir BWV 686
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 639
Wir glauben all an einen Gott BWV 1098
Wir glauben all an einen Gott BWV 681
Wir glauben all an einen Gott BWV 680
Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier BWV 731
Prelude and Fugue in B minor BWV 544
5 DECEMBER – HARRY MEEHAN
Fugue in E-flat majorBWV 552/2
Duetto I in E minor BWV 802
Duetto II in F major BWV 803
Canonic Variations on ‘Vom Himmel hoch’ BWV 769a
Duetto III in G major BWV 804
Duetto IV in A minor BWV 805
Contrapunctus XIV from The Art of Fugue BWV 1080 completed by Joseph Groocock (1913–97)
Saturdays 31 October, 7, 14, 21 and 2 November and 5 December at 4:15 pm
Venue: Whitefriar Street Church, 56 Aungier Street, Dublin 2.
Admission free, retiring collection much appreciated