Dietrich Buxtehude

This chorale that serves as the basis for this prelude was sung at Pentecost Sunday mass. The text of the chorale asks the Holy Ghost for various favors. The first verse reads as follows: "Now we ask the Holy Ghost for a righteous faith, and that he protect us up to the our end, when we travel home from this misery. Kyrieleis." Buxtehude places the chorale melody in the soprano range and ornaments it freely and elegantly. Unlike the other setting of the same chorale BuxWV 208, the ornamentation never shifts the octave placement of the melody.