Orgelmesse: Benedictus (8th Movement)

I had only been playing organ for a few months when I found a long list of organ composers online. I saw Joseph Ahrens at the top of the list, so I looked up some recordings of his music. The opening of the Introitus immediately resonated with me and inspired me to learn the entire mass. Ahrens's use of early styles of counterpoint and chant in his liturgical music drew me to a deep appreciation for his music.

The Benedictus is not as easy to play as it sounds. The right voice is soloed on an upper manual and the left hand plays two accompanying voices on a lower manual. However, the distance between the accompanying voices often becomes too great to play with one hand alone, so the right hand must play the middle voice with the thumb on the lower manual.