Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr

Georg Böhm · baroque · Level 1 · Sustained pedal

In the score, the score has a real pedal staff (3-staff system) carrying a gentle, mostly slow-moving pedal line (automated motion proxy 0.734, on the gentle end). That places Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr at Level 1 · Sustained pedal. On John Stainer’s pedal syllabus this sits at the Independence of Hands and Feet stage: Stainer’s first feet-and-hands work is to hold the feet steady (a sustained pedal note) while the hands move independently — the gentlest useful pedal.

Why this piece teaches it

Independence of Hands: Exercises. Independence of Hands and Feet: Exercises.

— Stainer, The Organ: A Manual of the True Principles of Organ Playing (Novello Primer, 1877; ed. 1909) (the Independence of Hands and Feet stage of the pedal syllabus).

This kind of cantus-firmus chorale setting is the repertoire the Bach Orgelbüchlein / Lemmens École d’orgue legato school uses to introduce a held pedal point.

Confidence: ✓ score-verified. Pedal presence confirmed from the score by the staff detector, and its pedal-motion proxy ranks among the gentlest of the confirmed pedal pieces — i.e. real but undemanding pedal work.

Score (PDF): open / download the score — the site’s own copy, source on IMSLP.