Macht hoch die Tür (Liedpartita), GWV 691/1 (2013)

Lothar Graap (b. 1933) — Macht hoch die Tür (Liedpartita), GWV 691/1 (2013) for organ

This partita is based on the hymn “Macht hoch die Tür” (“Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates!”), based on a text by Georg Weissel (1623). The hymn was written originally for the second Sunday of Advent, in celebration of Weissel’s new post as minister of Altrossgarten Church in Köngisberg. The text is inspired by Psalm 24.

Lothar Graap (b. 1933) is a German composer and church musician. Educated at the conservatory in Görlitz, his primary teachers were Eberhard Wenzel and Hans Schneider. He also studied with Helmut Bornefeld and Siegfried Reda. In 1954 he began a career as a professional church musician in Niemegk, and he pursued this work at several positions until his retirement in 1998 from Cottbus, where he had been cantor at the Klosterkirche. By the time of his retirement, he had performed and directed more than 1000 vespers services and concerts in Cottbus. Graap has composed more than 700 compositions in many forms, with a particular focus on organ and choral music.

Published by Edition Dohr in “Neun Liedpartiten”