This Dutch tune is often associated in Catholic hymnals with two great texts — “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy,” by Fr. Frederick Faber, CO, one of the great English Catholic hymn writers of the 19th Century, as well as “Blessed Feasts of Blessed Martyrs,” John Mason Neale’s 19th-Century translation of Pope St. Gregory the Great’s 6th-Century Latin hymn text, “O beata beatorum”.
This prelude is in the style of an ornamented chorale, and is modeled explicitly on J.S. Bach’s “O Mensch, bewein,” from Orgelbüchlein. Stately, calm, and tranquil, it is suitable for use with either text.
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Musica Seraphica 