Bach composed the 45 chorale preludes of the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) while he was in the service of the Duke of Sachsen-Weimar. As the Court organist, he also had regular duties relating to church service and it was for this latter venue that these chorale preludes were mainly written. The composer revealed they were also designed to have an educational function for organists and organ students. This prelude Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt (All Mankind Fell in Adam's Fall) comes in the second part of the Orgelbüchlein, which is comprised of only 12 works. The previous 33 preludes are associated with a specific feast day, while this dozen fall under the section Glaubenslieder (Songs of Faith). As is typical with most of the chorale preludes in the Orgelbüchlein, Durch Adams Fall begins with its theme—an anguished, somber creation—played in the soprano. The harmony mainly comes in sustained chords from the pedal and from the middle ranges. The pedal accompaniment provokes much tension, its seventh leaps said to symbolize Adam's fall. Disruptive and tension-filled as they are, they also impart a sense of distress to the whole piece. Musicologists generally hear the work as a depiction of the suffering and woe that has befallen mankind from Original Sin. In a typical performance, this well-crafted work lasts just over two minutes.

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