Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

The Frankenberg manuscript does not attribute a composer to this chorale prelude. It is tempting to attribute this piece to Johann Heinrich Buttstett. Not only because of the general idea of the piece (choral melody in the bass voice, two freely moving voices as accompaniment), but mostly because the figurations in bars 18 - 20 closely resemble bars 1-3 of Buttstett's prelude to "Jesus Christus under Heiland". That's hardly proof however. Anyone who has heard the first three bars of Buttstett's "Jesus Christus, unser Heiland" can use the same idea in his improvisations or written compositions. We'll probably never know for sure who wrote this choral prelude. One thing is sure however: it is again a well written work.

Score available here: http://partitura.org/index.php/anonymus-johann-heinrich-buttstett-wie-schon-leuchtet-der-morgenstern