Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op. 122, Op. 122

Brahms's Eleven Chorale Preludes (1896) were among the last works he completed before his death in 1897, and constitute his farewell to composition in the most intimate possible form. Based on Lutheran chorale melodies associated with sin, grace, and death -- including Herzlich tut mich verlangen (the "Passion Chorale") and O Welt, ich muss dich lassen -- they are profoundly introspective, written not for virtuosity but for solitary meditation. The eleventh prelude, O Welt ich muss dich lassen, is especially celebrated: two settings frame the collection like a grave and luminous benediction. No other Romantic composer touched the organ with such reserve and emotional depth; these pieces require a refined sense of registration, tempo rubato, and voicing that draws on the long German chorale prelude tradition from Buxtehude through Bach.