Præludium ex E vel A

As with most manuscripts from Germany with music of the late Renaissance and the early Baroque composers are in manuscript Ms Lynar B3 only indicated with there initials. Or not at all. The composer of this Praeludium is indicate as "A.D.O". Scholars tend to agree that this stands for "Andreas Düben Organista", making Andreas Düben the composer of this piece. Why the "O" should reasonably stand for "Organista" is never explained. That Düben was a student of Johann Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Ms Lynar B3 is in all likelyhood a compilation of compositions of Sweelinck students, makes the attribution a bit more likely. But it seems nevertheless a bit sloppy to explain away an inconvenient initial with the first word that comes to mind.

Andreas Düben (1597 - 16620 was born in Leipzig. He was a pupil of Sweelinck in Amsterdam from 1614 to 1620. In 1620 he became second organist of the new Swedish court orchestra at Stockholm. He reached a prominent position among the court musicians, being appointed conductor in 1640. He became organist of the German church in Stockholm in 1625 and of the Great church in 1649. In the German church Wilhelm Karges was his assistent for a short time. This explains the familiarity of Karges with thw works of Sweelinck and his pupils.

The prelude itself is a nice composition. Despite it's title it's written more in the key of A (minor) than in the key of E (minor). It flows in an easy steady pace, with a subtle shading of ever changing harmonies and suspensions.

Score available here: http://partitura.org/index.php/a-d-o-praeludium-ex-e-vel-a