The rapid sixteenth-note runs of the organ – which recur throughout the piece – symbolise the roaring of the Holy Spirit. In between, the text is set to music in seven verses, each of which follows the meaning of the text. - Two stanzas use the melody from the year 1000 in a contemporary harmonic setting. This context creates a tension between old and new – which is ultimately resolved in the soloist’s ‘Amen’.

Bertold Hummel