Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ

A contribution to William Whitehead's "Orgelbüchlein Project" - published in Volume 3.

The chorale is presented as two canonic voices, appearing in changing keys and at slightly fluctuating speeds. A series of short notes is presented in four layers, connected by the rhythmic ratios of 2:3:4:5. The harmony is composed of pitches taken from the actual phrase of the chorale, modulating independently from the melody.

All in all the idea is to pay a tribute to Bach’s contrapuntal techniques, but within a more floating framework, maybe creating an impression of distance to this chorale which is not known in our church, and which even Bach did not publish any setting of.

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The melody of this chorale is composed by Bartholomäus Gesius (Frankfurt an der Oder 1605) and not used by Bach anywhere else.

Text known to Bach (Weimar 1713):
Wir dancken dir/ O Jesu Christ
dass du das Lämmlein worden bist
und trägt all unser Sünd und Schuld
hilf das wir rühmen deine Huld.

Text: Nicolaus Selnecker (1628-92)