Chorale Variations on "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir", Op. 55

Composer's Note:

Based on Martin Luther's hymn melody, the work is cast in six sections: a slow, imitative presentation of the tune, a variation with a steady eighth note accompaniment, another with the melody in the pedals and a florid sixteenth note obbligato, a short fanfare, a final statement of the melody with polychords, and a coda. The key plan of the work also reinforces the concept of upward motion: beginning in E, then moving through F, then G, and ending finally in A.

Composed for the rededication of the Schlicker organ at Muhlenberg College, 2019.