Max Derrickson

Johannes Brahms
(Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1833; died in Vienna, Austria in 1897)

Chorale Prelude on “Herzlich tut mich verlangen,” Op. 122/10

Brahms’s love of Bach and older music was legendary in his time.  Like Mendelssohn, Brahms held a great indebtedness to his musical forebears.    He was also very fond of writing for the organ, and it’s telling that in the last summer of his life, the very last pieces he wrote were a very private set of works for organ, written in the style of Bach. This Chorale Prelude (variation) comes from the beautiful hymn that Brahms knew from Bach’s works, including, his St. Matthew Passion.  The words translate as “I do desire dearly” but the hymn’s tune was associated with the words (later applied) as “Oh sacred head, now wounded.”  Brahms creates a magical undulation and […] of the clever strokes in this small masterpiece.  You won’t fail to notice, of course, the exquisite beauty of this meditative rumination on one of […] intimate expressions that Brahms crafted for the organ.