I am pleased to present the second set of Chorale Preludes. This being November (or as conceived, October), I figured a set of Advent Prelude and Postludes would be most appropriate. As mentioned in a previous post, I really haven’t tackled many chorales as an organist/composer because it has never really interested me. Not that I dislike them by any means, because I improvise on them all the time. Composition and improvisation are such different things to me that I feel it’s worth mentioning and exploring.
This particular set of Chorales includes three very well known Advent hymn tunes. The first is perhaps the most connected to how I look at improvising a set of chorale variations: chorale, bicinium, celeste, and toccata. The only missing improvisational element is a trio, which is what happens in the next chorale prelude. I love BESANÇON as a hymn and it is a treat to share these brief variations on them. Click the following link for a copy of the score:
