Now Do We Pray God the Holy Ghost (Walter)

Setting by Johann Walter

“Now Do We Pray God the Holy Ghost” (Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist), text st. 1 German, st. 2-4 Martin Luther (1524). Setting by Johann Walter (1524). Polyphonic, SATTB.
Recording of stanzas 1 and 2. Mount Hope Lutheran School Kammerchor, February 2023.

The melody appears twice in this impressive 5-part setting, as Walter made it into a canon between the Alto and the Vagans (Tenor 2) at a fifth apart. The three other voices each begin by quoting the opening notes of the hymn and then turn into counter-melodies that imitate each other while providing harmonic support to the chorale tune.

Download Full-Page Score

Practice Tracks

Full practice track
Soprano practice track
Alto practice track
Tenor 1 practice track
Tenor 2 practice track
Bass practice track
Picture of Johann Walter

Johann Walter

Johann Walter (1496-1570) was a composer and music instructor in Torgau, Germany, who worked directly with Luther during the Reformation. Walter influenced the earliest Lutheran hymnals, Luther’s German Mass, and the musical education of future generations of great Lutheran composers. He is considered the first Lutheran cantor. Read full biography.
  • Anytime, Pentecost
  • ELH 743, hymn-based, LSB 768, Martin Luther, Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist, TLH 231

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Johann Walter

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