Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (organ chorale prelude, BWV 662)

The Baroque era was defined by eloquent sophistication.  All art from this period aimed to adorn and decorate the subject.  Bach's music is no exception -- this chorale prelude is based on a simple hymn tune, but he loads it up with ornaments, creating something completely unique.  If Bach were a baker, hymn tunes would be his flour -- the all-important base to his art -- but he would use so many other ingredients to such great capacity that the finished product, a magnificent cake, would be more elaborately designed and decadent than any cake you would find on any cooking show! This chorale prelude performed by Reitze Smits for the Netherlands Bach Society Resource from bach-cantatas.com -- cantus firmus notes isolated (this is the resource we mentioned during the episode) "J. S. Bach's Leipzig Chorale Preludes: Music, Text, Theology by Anne Leahy (see page 179)