I attempted to record this at almost midnight on 2025-11-28, after a long practice session, but accuracy kept declining until, around 1am, I finally decided I should resume the next day — and the next morning it was done, after a total of around 21 takes. A combination of “everything goes wrong when the mic goes on” and being rather dissatisfied with my tempo variation in some otherwise acceptable takes, though arguably Erwin Wiersinga’s recording for the Netherlands Bach Society is even more liberal with rubato. (The registration I chose is inspired by the voicing he achieved in his recording, which was in the Stiftskirche St. Georg, Goslar-Grauhof; the Długa Kościelna is missing a vox humana, though, and the tremolo only partially makes up for that.)

The first chorale prelude I ever learnt, and arguably still the only one I have learnt properly. It has become a bit of a warm-up piece for me in recent months.

I’m not entirely happy with the execution of the ornamentation — the trills in particular could be a lot more leisurely; yet I can’t help but wonder if a mischevious organist, knowing that ornamenting Lutheran hymns was not always met with approval, might have ornamented particularly aggressively just for fun — and do question my use of the Subbaß 16’ in the pedal, which creates quite the wall of sound.

Registration

Sampleset: “Długa Kościelna” by Piotr Grabowski.

• Pedal:
  • Subbaß 16'
• Manual I:
  • Viola di Gamba 8'
• Manual II:
  • Flauto amabile 8'
  • Gemshorn 8'
  • Flet kryty 4'
  • Tremolo
• Couplers:
  • I-P