Expressive small organ work

To coincide with his 100th birthday, a previously unpublished work by the great Viennese organist, pedagogue and composer Anton Heiller has been published, at least in part. The small chorale partita was composed at the beginning of 1975 as a commissioned work for a collection of organ music for church services; however, only the intonation, chorale movement and variation 1 were published, while the two remaining variations were not included due to their complex harmonies and therefore appear here in print for the first time. According to an online commentary by Anton Heiller's son on a recording of the work by the publisher, the piece seems to reflect the composer's mental state, which was characterized by illness and increasing exhaustion.

A short (manualiter) intonation introduces a chorale movement, which in this country would have to be rhythmically adapted to the version in the reformed hymnbook for an alternatim performance with sung verses. A first, very expressive variation accompanies the melody with a counter-voice in expressive, sometimes widely stretched sighing phrases. Variation 2 is a somewhat oddly dance-like movement in 6/8 time, which integrates the first two lines of the chorale. The finale is a full-bodied, harmonically rugged chorale movement in a powerful forte. Thanks to its not particularly high technical demands and its suitability for small instruments with one or two manuals and pedal, Heiller's short opus is a practical and therefore very welcome addition to the repertoire. It allows a (re-)encounter with an artist who has also had a lasting influence on the Swiss organ world and whose compositional work has been unjustly pushed into the background.

Anton HeillerIntonation, chorale and three variations on the melody "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir", edited by Lukas Frank, D 02 542, ca. € 12.00, Doblinger, Vienna