Augsburg Fortress

Friedrich Wilhelm Markull (1816-1887) was appointed at age 20 as principal organist to the Marienkirche in Dantzig, one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. Ten years later he would be appointed as Royal Music Director in the court of the King of Prussia. While his music was highly influential in his time, Markull remained rather conservative in his Romantic harmonic language, eschewing the extreme chromaticism of such contemporaries as Wagner, Liszt, and Bruckner.

The Twenty-Four Chorale Preludes (Opus 123) were composed in the last years of Markull's life. The editors of this volume suggest that perhaps Markull looked on this late opus as his Orgelbüchlein, a distillation of 60 years of chorale improvisation. This 'catalog' of his compositional technique is formally rooted in late Baroque and Classical tradition, yet unreservedly reflects the musical sensibilities of his era, namely the early German Romantic.

Intended for performers, church musicians, and students alike, this volume includes an extensive preface, tune indexes, and a hymnal concordance for Evangelical Lutheran Worship and the Lutheran Service Book. The Opus 23 chorale preludes are also available separately through the Prelude Music Planner.