Lobt Gott ihr Christen all' zugleich

The four manuscripts in which Johann Gottfried Walther notated his own works, along with compositions of contemporaries, contain some works by J.(P.) Heuschkel. This Heuschkel is not the Johann Peter Heuschkel who was the teacher of Carl Maria von Weber, because that Heuschkel was born in 1773, some 30 years after the manuscripts were written. The Heuschkel who wrote some of the works in Walther’s manuscripts remains largely unknown. No year of birth and no year of death is known, nor where he worked or lived. Yet he was undoubtely a talented organist and composer. The prelude on “Lobt Gott ihr Christen all’ zugleich” is proof of that. In the first bar a theme, derived from the choral theme, is introduced. That theme consequently is present in almost every bar of the composition, both in its initial form, and in inversion. And both variants of this theme occur in various forms of stretto as well. Against this texture the chorale melody is played.

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Score available here: http://partitura.org/index.php/johann-heuschkel-lobt-gott-ihr-christen-zugleich/