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Nun bitten wir den heilgen Geist
Our chorale is Martin Luther's 'Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist'. (The tune may have been written or adapted by Johann Walter.) It's a Pentecost hymn, less well-known than 'Komm heiliger Geist' or 'Komm Gott Schöpfer', but noble and venerable in its own right.

In the zip file, you'll find a score and recording of just the tune. Spend some time with it! The melody is nobly structured, expansive and somehow architectural. I particularly like the section where it gets 'stuck' ('Daß er uns behüte...'); this reminds me of those magical 'Fortspinnung' passages from Josquin.

The zip file contains the final chorale from Bach Cantata 169. The setting is elaborate and Bach ornaments
the melody considerably.

And finally, as our Motet for this week, I am including Johann Walter's magnificent 6-part quodlibet combining 'Nun bitten wir' with 'Komm heiliger Geist'. Walter (who set each of these Pentecost hymns separately) brilliantly weaves them together in a powerful and moving texture. The performance combines voices and instruments in an imaginative way, quite possibly typical of the way these pieces were performed in real life back then.

The music is great, the recordings are great; hopefully these pieces invoking the Holy Spirit will lift your spirits!
Click here to download practice materials
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