Sheep May Safely Graze

My first encounter with this beautiful work by Bach was when I performed it as a piano/organ duet at the baccalaureate service prior to my high school graduation. The piece begins with bells in the distance answered by the shepherd on his flute. There is a decidedly peaceful feel to the music when the melody begins, but it is not the pastoral feel of the original, but rather a pop-inspired treatment with more syncopation in the melody. The second theme is more straight-forward in the right hand with a flowing eighth-note figure in the left hand. Following a brief interlude the melody moves to the left hand while the right plays a figure which brings to mind the tolling of a single bell. The piece closes with the return of the opening duet between the bells and the shepherd on his flute as the sun sets and the flock rests for the night.