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Prelude: Komm Heiliger Geist, Herr Gott, Franz Tunder

Franz Tunder’s setting of Komm Heiliger Gesit, Herr Gott is wonderfully grand and expressive and has inspired many composers to write chorale preludes on this tune. The tune was first published in 1524 and has been especially utilized in the German Lutheran tradition for Pentecost. The composer, Franz Tunder, was the father-in-law to Dietrich Buxtehude. In those days, it was traditional for a young organist seeking a post to marry the incumbent organist’s daughter.

Come, Holy Spirit, Lord God,
fill with the goodness of your grace
the heart, spirit, and mind of your believers,
kindle in them your ardent love!

Postlude: Veni Creator Spiritus from Livre d’orgue, I. Plein Jeu. Nicolas de Grigny

Nicolas de Grigny (1671-1703) died young at the age of 32. But in his short life, he influenced his contemporaries as well as those to come. Bach admired his work so much that he copied it in its entirety. A Plein Jeu is simply the opening movement of a French Baroque mass setting and as was traditional among composers of that period, also designates the organist’s registration or choice of sounds. A plein jeu denotes a full plenum, or full foundational organ sound up through mixtures. As with much music of this period, it was written to please the royal tastes of the French court.