Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder (BWV 244) - We sit down in tears

That's the second " Wir setzen uns mit Tränen " today. But that's CB!

A few thoughts of my own on the piece. This is not Widor's arrangement, but a direct transcription from the score. Likewise, while playing and registering it, I had more of an orchestra and two choirs in mind than a grand CC organ. To be precise, I "heard" the recording of a rendition of the Mauersberger brothers with the boy choirs of the Dresden Kreuzkirche and Leipzig Thomaskirche. So I tried not to registrate “typical french-symphonic” like Widor would have done but tried to imitate an orchestra and two choirs. Not easy I think, I don’t know if I was succesful.

My interpretation is also based on the emotions of Holy Saturday. Jesus' friends had completely forgotten that he had spoken of resurrection before his death. And while shock and disbelief may have prevailed on Good Friday, this may have given way on Holy Saturday to profound despair, resignation, and a cry of lamentation. The world they lived in had collapsed. That’s why I added a few dissonant notes to the chord before the final chord to give expression to this desperate pain.

One more small observation about a typical Bach detail. We all know the magnificent BWV 552 and the idea that, among other things, its three flats represent the Trinity. The "Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder" (We sit down with tears) is in c minor and normally also has three flats. But here, one is missing; only two are notated at the beginning of the line. Formally, it's g minor, but it sounds like c minor. For me, this is Bach's way of making even the sheet music mourn for Jesus. You could also call it a musical missing man formation.