In this chorale prelude, Buxtehude sets the chorale tune in the soprano with simple but expressive ornamentation. The chorale tune is the same as the Passion chorale O Sacred Head Now Wounded, but the text is not related to the subject matter of Holy Week. Instead it deals with the subject of sin and forgiveness. The text of the first verse reads as follows, "O Lord, don't punish me poor sinner in thy anger, with thy earnest wrath, otherwise I am lost, O Lord I would that thou mightest forgive my sins and be merciful, so that I might live eternally and escape the pains of Hell."

The prelude is in the mature Buxtehude style. The setting is gently expressive with some chromaticism. Also Buxtehude breaks the third line of the chorale in the soprano with some brief rests peppering the music with a bit of rhetorical poignancy.

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