After a busy piano recording afternoon, also managed to record an organ piece after choir rehearsal. This is one of Bach's chorales from the Clavier Ubung III am particularly fond of. The deeply devout title means something like 'Christ, all the world's solace'. I hope something of the consoling and soothing atmosphere comes across.

Bach - Clavier Übung III - Chorale Prelude BWV 670 - Christe, aller Welt Trost

Nice and sensitive.

There are some passages where there are sustained half-tones singing together which is a bit unusual (0:31, time 3:27 is the most unusual) but it fits the contrapunctal idea from what I can hear.

At 4:17, I think I hear a mistake of right hand. Am I right? Sounds like the 6:th key of the melody line should be Ab rather than A. You play D-Eb-D-C-Bb-A-G while my ear would like it to be D-Eb-D-C-Bb-Ab-G. I don't have the score and I have hardly ever heard this piece before and sit at my poor sounding laptop at work listening so I can of course be wrong (also very likely as you are very picky about getting the score right ).

But really a nice atmosphere and good mood. I liked it a lot!

Yes, Bach can put out some unusual harmonies in these chorales. It is made more surprising by the use of the Sexquialter register for the cantus firmus, producing these nice 'off-key' overtones. It's all as intended, and very common in Bach organ works.


Well spotted. This is one of the (still too many) slips. I have a bit of mixed feeling about this recording, and wonder if I should re-record it. OTOH it is not too bad really and I may just leave it for now. Glad you liked it.

The one at 0:31 is the most harsh, IMO.
Nice playing, though.
And what the heck is a Sexquialter register for the cantus firmus? (You don't have to answer that- I just think it's fun to say)

That must be the surprise factor, it is the first entry of this voice. Nothing harsh about it, though it may sound strange if you are not familiar with organ music.


In organ works, the cantus firmus is most often the undecorated chorale melody that floats under, or above, or even in the middle, of the other voices. We organists (hehehe ) like to choose a register with a nasal quality for this, to make it really stand out. The unique sound is produced by a pipe that does not have a length of 2, 4, 8, or 16 feet, like all others, but somewhere in between. The sexquialter is a typical Baroque register with a length of either 2-2/3' or 1-3/5'. I use that a lot on 'my' organ.

Yes, I should have said 'strange' instead of harsh. It is a surpise to the ear.

Thanks for the explanation - As someone who knows practically nothing about organ mechanics, that now makes sense.

Sorry, to me that note at 0:31 and some more in the left hand voice sound odd. Can it be that you drew terz or quint registers for that manual? Something IS strange here. If you say, that is the surprise factor - ok, but I believe the surprise will never end, regardless how long I would listen to it. Either the organ is seriously detuned in some registers, or there are terz/quint or other odd related registers drawn which overshadow other registers or something else, I dunno.

Beside that, calm and relaxed playing as usual from you!

Well it has been tuned quite recently but I would not claim all pipes sound absolutely flawless. I think every organ has its pecularities though, which I guess it takes getting used to. The nasal tone of the sexquialter is an acquired taste I believe, but from what I know, very common in baroque pieces like this. Yeah could be some are a little off the mark. It does not bother me too much.
Besides the sexquialter I used here only the regular 4- 8- and 16-foot registers that are sort of the 'pizza-base' of the organ disposition.