Chorale "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht." BWV 154.8 - JS Bach. Aaron Lington - baritone saxophone

There are many aspects of the Bach chorales that attract me to them. The harmony (usually); the melody; or - in this case - the baritone line. This chorale, "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht" (BWV 145.8) is from the larger cantata "Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren." This chorale has an amazing baritone line that weaves in and out; up and down; and changes the way in which the simple diatonic melody of the chorale functions. Brilliant.
This chorale was premiered on January 9, 1724, the 1st Sunday after Epiphany.
This chorale melody was written by Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611-1685). He was born in Bohemia and a great deal is known about his life and career (too much to list here, in fact). In summary, he was a German composer and organist of Bohemian birth. He is generally considered the most representative composer of mid-17th-century German church music, of which he was a prolific and extremely popular exponent.
The lyrics of the chorale were written by Christian Keymann (1607-1662). Keymann (also a Bohemian like Hammerschmidt) was a prominent teacher and author, especially of scholastic writings. His hymns, about thirteen in number, are among the best of his time; they breathe a firm conviction of faith; they are churchly; they are an expression of sound Christian experience and are characterized by exceptional poetic beauty.
For this chorale, there are actually six stanzas. However, is seem that common performances of this chorale utilize the first line of the first stanza, and then the remaining lines of the sixth stanza. This results in the following in the original German:
Meinen Jesum laß' ich nicht
Geh' ihm ewig an der Seiten;
Christus wird mich für und für
Zu dem Lebensbächlein leiten.
Selig, wer mit mir so spricht;
Meinen Jesum laß' ich nicht!
And in English is thus:
I shall not leave my Jesus.
I shall go along always by his side;
for ever and ever Christ will
lead me to the waters of life.
Blessed is the man who says with me;
I shall not leave my Jesus.
The melody of this chorale is absolutely diatonic in the key of D major (B major for baritone saxophone). However, with the amazing baritone line I mentioned earlier, some clever and expected secondary dominants appear and resolve in typical Bach fashion. This is very singable in its four-part form and I enjoyed playing the four parts on my saxophone.
I hope you all enjoy this one!
Recorded on a Zoom Q8 with a Sennheiser MD441 microphone
Apollo Twin X Audio Interface and Logic Pro X
Selmer Super Action 80 Serie II Baritone Saxophone (#511xxx)
Selmer S-80 C** Mouthpiece
Francois Louis ligature
Rico/D'Addario Reserve Reed #4

[@lukejuras8024]

Great performance. I am studying through Bach Chorales and came across your video. Keep it up!