Weekend of celebration marks the completion of Bach’s unfinished organ manuscript

After more than 300 years, J.S. Bach’s mysteriously unfinished Orgelbüchlein (‘Little Organ Book’) will finally receive a full UK premiere this September as the Royal College of Organists (RCO) presents a complete performance of a unique composition project.

The Orgelbüchlein Project has involved the composition of 118 new pieces of music to complete the unfinished Orgelbüchlein – a manuscript which the composer intended to contain 164 chorales, but which he ultimately left unfinished with just 46 completed and only the titles penned in for the rest.

Over more than a decade, project director and organist William Whitehead has commissioned contemporary composers such as John Rutter, Judith Bingham, Sir Stephen Hough, Sally Beamish, Louis Andriessen, Daniel Kidane, Roxanna Panufnik and Nico Muhly to fill in these missing pieces and rise to the project’s central challenge: if Bach were alive today, how might he go about writing a short chorale prelude in the Orgelbüchlein style?

The result is a new and complete Orgelbüchlein for the 21st century, a collection of 164 short chorale preludes containing a fascinating cross-section of contemporary European styles, together with newly edited versions of Bach’s original pieces: a grand homage to Bach, held together by the common thread of his original plan.

The Royal College of Organists’ celebratory event – Bach and Friends: The Orgelbüchlein Completed – will mark the full UK premiere of the resulting works.

Taking place at London venues across the weekend of 23-25 September, each of nine concerts will be presented by broadcaster Zeb Soanes and feature a themed collection of contemporary pieces plus a selection of Bach’s original compositions.

All performances will be free to attend with no pre-booking required.

William Whitehead said: “The manuscript of Orgelbüchlein always been such a tantalising mystery, with no one knowing exactly why Bach completed only a quarter of his intended 164 chorale preludes.

“But by leaving the titles for the missing 118 pieces he presented us with a unique and intriguing opportunity – what would happen if we commissioned the most interesting composers working today to meet this challenge in ways which reinvent the techniques laid down by Bach in ways which are entirely their own?

“The result is an astonishing completed work, an eclectic but cohesive whole with many of the schools of contemporary composition represented – minimalism, spirituality, new complexity, modernism, serialism and jazz, together with a range of styles from periods since Bach’s death.”

The Orgelbüchlein Project is unusual not just in the ambition and diversity of the completed work, but also in the number of people involved in making it happen. As well as the 118 composers who were commissioned to write pieces, those commissions were supported by dozens of individual sponsors.

Tom Bell, a Royal College of Organists regional director and one of the organists performing at the event, explained: “The ‘crowdfunded’ nature of this project really is a remarkable feature.

“Through composition competitions and direct sponsorship the RCO is delighted to have supported the commissioning of seven pieces, and other organisations have made major contributions, but more than half of those supporting this fantastic work have been private individuals – people from every walk of life who have been as captivated and inspired by this challenge as we have.

“It is an exceptional collective and collaborative artistic effort of which everyone involved should be immensely proud.”

For event details, visit www.rco.org.uk/bachandfriends

For more on The Orgelbüchlein Project, visit www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/