Johann Georg Bernhard Beutler, Werde munter mein Gemüthe

by admin · May 16, 2025

Johann Georg Bernhard Beutler was born in Mühlhausen/Thuringia in 1762 and worked in his hometown throughout his life. After studying theology and music in Halle, he became rector of the grammar school and organist at the Marienkirche in Mühlhausen in 1807. He published an improved chorale book and died of “nervous fever” (typhus) in 1814. His son Benjamin Beutler, born in 1792, succeeded him in his posts. His earlier famous and widely used chorale prelude “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele” is called a “masterpiece” by August Scheide – not without reason.

A few of Beutler’s compositions are scattered throughout the publications of Gotthillf Wilhelm Körner, like “Der angehende Organist” and “Der Orgelfreund”. In “Der Orgelfreund”, Band 4, Körner writes that he obtained 77 unpublished compositions written by Beutler. As far as I could find, only a few of those ended up in Körners publications. The rest, it seems, he left unpublished. And that is a shame, because, although Beutler wrote in a style that was old fashioned in his own time, the quality of the music is without dispute. It can only be hoped that the manuscipt(s) of Beutler’s music that Körner owned, are still lying around somewhere in a library.

“Werde munter mein Gemüthe” is the first of a series of Beutler’s music I intend to publish. It is a relatively straight forward chorale prelude, with the cantus firmus in the right hand. Before, between and after the phrases of the chorale melody, the right hand joins the left one in the accompaniment. Beutler/Körner do not indicate that the cantus firmus should be played on a seperate manual. I chose to do so anyway.

The first two phrases of the choral are repeated in the choral itself, but nog in Beutler’s prelude. Perhaps he thought that a repetition was evident and that it was unneccesary to indicate it. Or perhaps he thought that repetition was tiresome and choose to ignore it. In my performance I choose to play the music as written en forego the repetition. If you want to play the repetition, it is easy enough to do so: at the end of bar 12 you just go back to bar 6 and the music fits together seamlessly.

The recording was done with the Hauptwerk software and the sampleset, made by Sonus Paradisi, of the Schnittger organ in the St. Martini-kerk, Groningen (https://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/netherlands/groningen-st-martini.html).

Score
Beutler, Werde munter mein Gemüthe