Bach - An Wasserflüssen Babylon BWV 653 - Van Doeselaar | Netherlands Bach Society

*Please note: this is an improved version of an earlier release. The chorale ’An Wasserflüssen Babylon’, performed by Leo van Doeselaar for All of Bach, describes the desperate situation of the Israelites in exile. Many composers in the seventeenth century made an arrangement of it, with the Hamburg organist Adam Reincken as the absolute champion. As a fifteen-year-old, Bach copied this version down and undoubtedly studied it well. But when he made his own arrangement ten years later, he did not follow Reincken’s example. Instead of an ingenious but somewhat frivolous fantasy, as Reincken made, he chose to create a compact, sombre chorale prelude. For more information on BWV 653 and credits of this production go to For the interview with organist Leo van Doeselaar on ’An Wasserflüssen Babylon’ go to Recorded for the project All of Bach on October 8th 2013 at St Martin’s Church,