# Questions about the BWV numbering of Bach's music.



## Uematsu (Dec 27, 2017)

I was given a set of JS Bach's complete works, the Hanssler set put together by Helmuth Rilling. I have put all the CDs on my iTunes library and going through them I'm finding some things I have some questions regarding the BWV numbers. In particular I have noticed some of the chorale works have multiple BWV numbers. For example the piece Ihr Gestirn, Ihr Hohlen Lüfte is listed as being both BWV 366 and BWV 476. Some are listed as having three or even four BWV numbers, such as Das Alte Jahr Vergangen Ist, which is given the BWV numbers of 614, 289, 288 and 1091 in that order. What's the reason some of Bach's music was given multiple BWV numbers? I'd like to understand the way the BWV numbers were assigned, but also to help me better organize the pieces in my iTunes library. Thank you all for any advice you may have.

My understanding so far is that the BWV numbers were assigned by Wolfgang Schmeider in 1950 while making a catalogue of Bach's music. What I don't understand is how a single work ended up with multiple numbers.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Bach, like many composers of his (and later) times, often used the same melody or tune in several venues.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

The chorale “Ihr Gestirn, Ihr Hohlen Lüfte” is assigned different BWV numbers because the melody as it appears in the Schemelli Gesangbuch (BWV 476) has an entirely different bass line than BWV 366. Likewise, “Das alte Jahr vergangen ist” appears in different harmonizations, hence the different BWV numbers, i.e. 288 and 289. The melody is assigned BWV 614 as an organ prelude from the Orgelbüchlein. “Das alte Jahr vergangen ist” BWV 1091, is one of the Neumeister Chorales discovered in 1985 in the archives of Yale University.


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## Uematsu (Dec 27, 2017)

RICK RIEKERT said:


> The chorale "Ihr Gestirn, Ihr Hohlen Lüfte" is assigned different BWV numbers because the melody as it appears in the Schemelli Gesangbuch (BWV 476) has an entirely different bass line than BWV 366. Likewise, "Das alte Jahr vergangen ist" appears in different harmonizations, hence the different BWV numbers, i.e. 288 and 289. The melody is assigned BWV 614 as an organ prelude from the Orgelbüchlein. "Das alte Jahr vergangen ist" BWV 1091, is one of the Neumeister Chorales discovered in 1985 in the archives of Yale University.


Thank you for the excellent explanation


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