Dir, dir Jehova will ich singen

Herbert Collum (1914-1982) was one of the leading German organists of the 20th century. He studied in Leipzig with Karl Straube and Günther Ramin (organ), with Kurt Thomas (choir conducting) and Johann Nepomuk David (composition). In 1935 he became organist at the Kreuzkirche in Dresden where a very productive cooperation with the Kreuzchor under Rudolf Mauersberger started. Collum stayed there until he died in 1982.

Collum's main focus as an organist were Bach and Reger. He was also an important teacher. As a composer he wrote not only church music, but also chamber and orchestra music.

His son Christian Collum is also a well-known organist. He has been living in Cologne since 1983 where I met him in the late 90es. We decided to make Herbert Collum's work available on imslp.org and have started with some 30 scores and some live recordings by Christian. This joyful choral prelude is also available for download on imslp.org.