Johann Balthasar Kelh, So gehst du dann, mein Jesu, hin| Secrets of Organ Playing Contest, Week 116

This is my entry for the Secrets of Organ Playing Contest, week 116. I play Johann Seb astian Kehl's prelude to "So gehst du dann, mein Jesu hin".

Johann Balthasar Kehl (1725 – 1778) was a German organist, cellist and composer. Kehl's claim to fame are the chorale preludes he published during his time in Erlangen, in four different volumes (Erste bis Vierte Sammlung einiger variierender Choräle, 1764). His music has been little studied, although Johann Adam Hiller considered his oratorios to be the epitome of good, large-scale choral compositions.

The choral “So gehst du nun mein Jesu hin” depicts the time of lent. Kehl emphasises the darker mood of this choral with slow often chromatic lines. With little means Kehl creates a piece with a profound dramatic impression. In this piece Kehl foreshadows the Romantic era, some decades before the actual period.

Personal highlight: I played the last two bass notes with my left foot. Yeah...!

The recording was done with the Hauptwerk software and the sampleset, made by Sonus Paradisi, of the Schnittger organ in the St. Martini-kerk, Groningen (https://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/netherlands/groningen-st-martini.html).

Kehl's music is downloadable from my website: http://partitura.org/index.php/kehl-johann-balthasar/