[139] Various arrangements by Bach of this chorale are in existence; we would cite in particular the one which he made with double pedal, upon the same harmonic bass as the one already referred to. It was probably composed for the journey to Hamburg (in 1720), when Bach drew from old Reinken the avowal of an admiration which the latter was not wont to lavish, for his improvisations upon this theme. Reinken had also composed a prelude upon it. It is interesting to compare the profusion of ornaments by which he renders the melody almost unrecognizable, with the elegant design in which Bach clothes it. Reinken thus distorts the beginning:
With a Toccata and another Choralvorspiel, this arrangement is all that remains to us of Reinken's works.
[140] Schumann said of this prelude, by which he himself was influenced in certain compositions (Cologne): "Thou didst play, Felix Meritis (Mendelssohn), a prelude upon one of those figured chorales: 'Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele,' was the text; the melody seemed interlaced with garlands of gold, and the work breathed forth such happiness that you inspired in me this avowal: 'Were life deprived of all trust, of all faith, this simple chorale would restore all to me.' I fell into a revery; then, almost unconsciously, I found myself in the cemetery, and I felt poignant grief at not being able to cover with flowers the grave of the great Bach."—Letters, vol. i. Mendelssohn had played this chorale at a concert given, in St. Thomas' Church, to further the erection of a monument to the memory of J.S. Bach.
The melody of this chorale is found in choral-books since 1649.
[141] Einige kanonische Veränderungen über das Weihnachtslied: Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her.
[142] These variations were published separately. Bach had them engraved about 1746 by Balthasar Schmidt in Nuremberg, in order to present them as the work for admission which the "Society for Musical Sciences" founded by Mizler in 1738 imposed upon each of its candidates. Bach was elected in 1747. He must have composed them, however, some years previously. The MS. and the engraved edition present numerous differences of editing.
[143] P. vi, and vii. B.-G. iii.
[144] Cart. Un maître deux fois centenaire.