Christian Gotthilf Tag, Lobe den Herren

Tag’s prelude to the chorale “Lobe den Herren” has the same construction as his prelude to “Wir Christenleut (see here: Christian Gotthilf Tag, Wir Christenleut). The chorale melody is not used as a cantus firmus, or a theme for a fugue, it is not used as bassline in the pedal’s, or any of the more familiar forms of choral prelude. Tag uses this melody to create a virtuosic piece, where the repetitions in the chorale melody itself are taken a step further by giving each fragment of the choral melody an echo like repetition. Interspersed with passage work it gives the impression of being a stand alone piece. You have to be very familiar with the chorale melody to be able to recognize it in the music.

The recording was done with the Hauptwerk software and the sampleset, made by Sonus Paradisi, of the Bader organ in the Walburgiskerk, Zutphen (https://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/netherlands/zutphen-virtual-organ-model.html).

Score
Tag, Lobe den Herren

Performance