Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

Sonus Paradisi just released a new Hauptwerk sample set of the Zacharias Hildebrandt organ of Sangerhausen, Germany. This is the first of a few pieces I recorded on this model.

A fine variation on the Lutheran Epiphany hymn 'Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern' / 'How brightly shines the morning star'. The composer gave the option to play with or without repeats. German composer and church musician Stefan Trenner (1967–2024) was born in Plattling (Niederbayern) and was educated in Regensburg and Munich. His teachers included Eberhard Kraus, Franz Josef Stoiber, and Otmar Faulstich. From 1992 to 2011, Trenner worked as an organist and choirmaster at the Catholic parish church of St. Michael in Plattling; from 1994 to 2006, he also worked as an instrumental and music teacher at the St. Gotthard grammar school in Niederalteich. From 2011 until his death in 2024, he was church musician for the Catholic parish church of St. Magdalena in Plattling.