Dieterich Buxtehude (1637 – 1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal and instrumental idioms, Buxtehude's style greatly influenced other composers, such as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Buxtehude is considered one of the most important composers of the 17th century. Although more than 100 vocal compositions by Buxtehude survive, very few of them were included in the important German manuscript collections of the period, and until the early twentieth century, Buxtehude was regarded primarily as a keyboard composer. His surviving church music is praised for its high musical qualities rather than its progressive elements.

"Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" (We now implore the Holy Ghost) is a German Christian hymn. The first stanza is a leise from the 13th century which alludes to the Latin sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit) for Pentecost. It was widely known, and aside from its Pentecostal origin was also used as a procession song and in sacred plays. The most prominent form of today's hymn contains three further stanzas written by the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. He recommended the leise in his 1523 liturgy to be used regularly in church services. The request to the Holy Spirit for the right faith most of all ("um den rechten Glauben allermeist") suited Luther's theology well. In 1524, possibly for Pentecost, he wrote the additional stanzas. This version was first published in Wittenberg the same year as part of Johann Walter's First Wittenberg Hymnal. The song's themes of faith, love and hope render it appropriate not only for Pentecost but also for general occasions and funerals.

Luther's chorale is part of many hymnals, sung in several Christian denominations and in translations. It inspired vocal and organ music from the Renaissance to contemporary by composers such as Michael Praetorius, Dieterich Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach. Alternate versions of the hymn, employing the same medieval first stanza, have appeared in Catholic hymnals, first in 1537 by Michael Vehe, a Dominican friar and theologian. His hymn was revised by Maria Luise Thurmair and published in 1972, and is still part of the 2013 Catholic hymnal Gotteslob.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nun_bitten_wir_den_Heili gen_Geist).

Although originally written for Pipe Organ, I created this Interpretation of the choral prelude "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" (BuxWV 209) for Woodwind Quartet (Flute, Bb Clarinet, Oboe & Bassoon).