Zelter's melody is at the same time simple and yet haunting. It conveys a dark mood which fits the lyrics by Goethe perfectly: the loss of a loved wife, a precious gift as a keepsake, his own death, and the king throwing the golden cup into the sea instead of leaving it to his heirs. I tried to compose an accompanyment for pipe organ in a style a little bit similar to Pärt's Tintinnabuli style (although the great Pärt would have done a far, far better job) and to capture the slow, steady pounding of the waves at the coast beneath the king's castle high over the sea. Therefore, the tempo is rather slow, making it hard for the choir to take the long phrases in one breath, but please try not to breathe at each bar.