O Herre Gott, begnade mich

This is really a magnificent composition, based on the melody of "O Herre Gott, begnade mich". The text is based on Psalm 51, the melody is not, at least not on the melody Psalm 51 has in the Genevian Psalter.

The melody is rather long and so is this composition. The melody is in the so called Bar-form: A-A-B. In this composition the first A is written for the soprano voice, richly embellished. The second A is played by the pedals, in long notes. The B is again in the soprano voice, though not as richly embellished as in the first A. As is often the case in this kind of composition from the Northern German Baroque the accompaniment of the chorale melody is based on motives from this melody, giving the piece a strong motivic coherence. Noteworthy in this composition is that some of the chorale fragments are accompanied by fore- or aftershadowings of the chorale fragment that precedes or follows it. In this elegant play with motives the composer shows he masters the art of counterpoint very well.

Another noteworthy characteristic of this composition is that in the middle of the B-segment the meter changes to 6/4.for eleven bars, after which it return to the opening 4/4. Probably an expression of the text, though I could not determine which words were the inspiration for this change in meter.

As far as I could determine, this composition has not been published before. And the only reason therefore probably is, that it is an anonymous composition. Somehow, editors and players want to put a name to the composition. If it has not a name attached to it, it is somehow not as memorable a composition. This composition shows how shortsighted that attitude is. It is a true master piece that deserves far more attention that it has gotten until now. I hope that with publishing this score, this composition will be played, in concerts and in services. It truly deserves to be heard and enjoyed

Score available: http://partitura.org/index.php/anonymus-o-herre-gott-begnade-mich