JSBChorales.net: ReadMe
Margaret Greentree


This is a copy of the README found with the midi files of the chorales.

Here is a set of midi files of chorales harmonized by J. S. Bach. These short works are used in church services and in the study of the practices of harmony.

The BWV catalog numbers were created in 1950 to standardize references to Bach's work. No longer need there be confusion about WHICH fugue in g minor is being talked about.

The file names or ID numbers in the database of this web site may be understood as follows:

<b>0000xxB_.midi</b>
<table><tr><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><b>0000</b> is the BWV #
<tr><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><b>xx</b> is the movement # within the BWV. These are from the NBA edition which are indicated in Wolfgang Schmieder's _Thematic Catalog of the Musical Work of Johann Sebastian Bach_, Breitkopf and Hartel, Wiesden, 1990.
<tr><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><b>B</b> means that the chorale is numbered in the BWV catalog, A in this spot would be the anhang #, C in this spot would be some other series of numbers if necessary.
<tr><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><b>_</b> is a placeholder for some other information, eg. a first or second version, S for a short or abbreviated version</table>

For example, for the chorale that closes BWV 42, the file name would be 004207b_.midi.
For the chorale that closes the first part of BWV 36(2) would be 003604b2.midi.

So, to interpret the file name: 024833b_:


0248  = BWV 248
33 = Movement #33
b  = BWV series
_  = no other special info



Most of these chorales may be found in the following two editions:

Bach, _371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies with Figured Bass_, ed. Albert Riemenschneider,  G. Schirmer, NY, 1941.
This is a reworking of the Bach-Kirnberger edition of 370 chorales.

Johann Sebastian Bach, _389 Chorales_, Kalmus K06002, Belwin Inc, 15800 NW 48th Ave, Miami, FL 33014
This is a re-publication of the Richter edition of 389 chorales.


A tab delimited text file which can be imported into a database or formatted in a word processor is also included. The fields in the file are:


MIDI file #
BWV #
# of chorale in A. Riemenschneider
# of chorale in Kalmus
analysis
German title with ftp address


The analysis field indicates those chorales shown with a figured bass. Those chorales with RM in the analysis field are included in _Figured Harmony at the Keyboard_, Part 2, R. O. Morris, Oxford University Press, 1933. ISBN 0 19 321472 5.

Those chorales with BR in the analysis field have the figured bass included in Charles N. Boyd and Albert Riemenschneider's <i>Chorales by J. S. Bach,</i> G. Schirmer, 1939. Catalog No: Ed.1628.


In chorales with repeats and an initial pick-up note, the repeat has been written out rather than written as a graphic repeat, and the pick-up has been included in the incomplete measure preceding the second playing of the repeat. Sometimes a final note of the chorale has been extended 1 beat if the measure allowed, for the sake of the sound of the final cadence. Initial pick-up measures were created by using rests to fill the beginning of the first measure, before the pick-up note.

If possible, check the files against an original copy of the chorales, for accuracy and for preferences in writing odd measures.


 These files were created on a Macintosh using Coda's Finale.

I would appreciate any <a href="mail.html">messages, corrections or comments.</a>

If you are going to use the chorales files, you can send me <a href="mail.html">email.</a> 
I always enjoy hearing what people are doing with the files. Thanks.


The files were made with Coda's Finale and Apple's QuickTime on an Apple Macintosh computer.