Christian Geist, Allenaste Gud i himmelrik

Christian Geist (c. 1640 – 1711) was a German composer and organist, who lived and worked mainly in Scandinavia. He was born in Güstrow, where his father, Joachim Geist, was cantor at the cathedral school. In 1670 Geist moved to the Swedish court orchestra under Gustaf Düben the elder (ca. 1628-1690), a position he held until June 1679. After that he became organist of the German church in Göteborg. In in November 1684 Geist moved to Copenhagen, where he became organist of the Helligaandskirke, a post he held to his death. He succeeded Johann Lorentz as organist of the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen in 1689. He died, with his third wife and all their children, of the bubonic plague.

Three organ works which could be by Geist’s hand reside in manuscript form in the library of the university of Uppsala. His name is indicated in the manuscript but has been erased at a later date, so there is some doubt about the authorship.
Regardless who wrote them, the pieces are very much worth to be played. The three works were written in the style of the North German school of organ music. This first one uses the melody of “Allenaste Gud i himmelrik”, in other parts of the world also known as the melody of “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr”.

Like with the fugues of Lohet, the source of this piece is written in tabulature. I’m not sure I’ve transcribed everything correctly. So, I’ll be glad of any feedback on the transcription itself.

The recording was done on the sample set of the Holzey organ of St. Peter and Paul in Weissenau by Prospectum.

Score
Geist, Allenaste Gud i himmelrik

MP3

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