Brief silence yields to organ. An ornamented upper line enters over a flowing middle voice and steady pedal, setting the three-part contract the prelude will keep.

The cantus moves phrase by phrase in the top voice while the middle line keeps continuous motion and the pedal anchors below. Local lifts and releases mark phrase ends without breaking texture or resetting form. The same contrapuntal job recurs: each new chorale line arrives inside the frame already set.

Pattern and pulse stay settled. No contrasting middle arrives; the music holds its contract and lets the final stretch gather weight through continuation rather than new material.

Pressure eases, the last phrase drops back, and the hold loosens. The organ thins into terminal silence.

The whole form is one unbroken plea: a single verse-texture established early, carried without rupture, then allowed to withdraw.