At the end of his life, Brahms composed a set of eleven chorale preludes for the organ. As part of her doctoral studies, Darlene Franz arranged them for solo oboe (or in some cases English horn) and organ, and based her entire dissertation around these new creations. Also included in this volume is Brahms treatment of the tune "O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid." English horn is compulsory on the fourth chorale ("Herzlich tut mich erfreuen"), however, supplemental parts have been included for some of the other preludes on which the English horn could be utilized.

From the program notes:

"Oboists know the “Romantic repertoire dilemma.” With the notable exception of Robert Schumann (1810–1856) and his Three Romances, no major composers of that era wrote solo or chamber works for oboe. So oboistslearn to enjoy the work of lesser-known composers, borrow what we can, and delight in the relatively generous selection 20th-century oboe pieces that almost sound like they could have been written in the Romantic era. I've always loved the oboe solos in Johannes Brahms's (1833–1897) symphonies, and have wondered what kind of solo or chamber music he might have written if he'd known an oboe virtuoso, or perhaps if the clarinet just hadn't been so fashionable. So you can imagine my delight when my organist husband asked whether I knew that Brahms had written a set of chorale preludes, and did I want to try playing the melody line on oboe? This worked so well that a full arrangement soon resulted, and then a doctoral dissertation (Brahms's Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op. 122: A New Perspective on his Enigmatic Final Work, University of Washington, 2009)."