Chorale Prelude Herr, ich habe missgehandelt

The Chorale Prelude Herr, ich habe missgehandelt (Lord I have transgressed) is the first of a pair based upon Lutheran hymnody, the second being Warum Solt’ ich mich denn grämen. I was attracted to the chorale prelude partly as a technical challenge, especially that of incorporating a tonal melody seamlessly into an extended tonal style. The model here is Bach; the strict 3-part texture, certain contrapuntal techniques and similarities in figuration derive from a study of his ‘Schübler’ Chorales. However, whilst Bach often uses material quite unrelated to the chorale melody in the other parts, here the approach has been to saturate them with it, even though this might not at first be obvious. Also, in the ‘Schüblers’ the chorale melody, even when played on the pedals, appears near or at the top of the texture. Here the chorale melody is definitely and dramatically in the bass.