Heinrich Nicolaus Gerber, Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele

by admin · April 20, 2025

The chorale prelude to “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele” is the second piece in Manuscript D-LEb Rara I, 19, owned by the Bach Archiv in Leipzig, that wasd composed by Heinrich Nicolaus Gerber. It is written as a joyful trio, that expresses the “freu dich sehr”-part of the text very well. The manuscript leaves the last bar for the left hand empty and annotates “Fine” next to the last note of the choral melody in the preceeding bar. As there is neither a rest nor a note in that last bar for the left hand, it is unclear wether the last note of the choral meldoy should be held till the end of the piece or not. In my performance I hold the last note till the last end. However, only playing the added voice of the accompinent in that last bar, is equally plausible. The player must decide what fits him or her best.

The recording was done with the Sweelinq software and the sampleset of the Ahrend organ in the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (https://sweelinq.com/product/amsterdam-nl-oude-kerk-ahrend-organ). It is a wonderful small organ and the recording shows (again) how beautiful a single Principal 8′ can be as a solo stop.

Score
Gerber, Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele