O du lieber Augustin (Variationen), GWV 441 (2001)

Lothar Graap (b. 1933) — O du lieber Augustin (Variationen), GWV 441 (2001) for organ

“O du lieber Augustin (Variationen)”, GWV 441 (2001) is a set of variations on a popular Viennese song, attributed originally to the balladeer Marx Augustin (ca. 1679). The popular English and American children’s folk song “The more we get together, the happier we’ll be” (and “Did you ever see a Lassie?”) is sung to the same tune.

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 Musica Rinata