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Born in Cologne, Germany, Wieruszowski studied at the Conservatory there and also at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. In the preface to her Choralvorspiele für Orgel, Verkündigung 1, she writes: “These Chorale Preludes are meant above all to serve the congregation. The author selected for these settings mainly tunes for which there were no existing organ pieces in the literature, or only pieces in which the original Rythm was not maintained... The congregation should be able to join in singing after the Chorale Prelude, no differently than as if the organ had just played the first verse.”
Wieruszowski’s modesty in relegating these chorale preludes to hymn-introduction status belies their simple beauty and elegance. True, the cantus firmus always appears cleanly, without rhythmic or melodic alteration. But the balance and shapeliness of the counterpoint around it give each piece refined grace.
Several collections of Wieruszowski’s chorale preludes were published by Schott in London, Foetisch in Lausanne, Krompholz in Bern, and Zwingli in Zürich in the 1940’s and 50’s, but have since gone out of print.
