Kirnberger, a student of J.S. Bach, wrote this work to demonstrate rigorous contrapuntal craft. It stands out for its clarity of voice-leading and pedagogical precision.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: independent voices that must each sing on their own line; fine finger independence within the hand; and precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece.
Beyond that, expect chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others.
Developing complete independence of the fingers is the primary challenge in this fugal texture.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Lesser-known works by the same hand, at a comparable level.
Chorale 'Es ist das Heil uns kommen her' is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 8.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 5 — meaning you can already play level 4–5 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Chorale 'Es ist das Heil uns kommen her' lasts about 4 minutes.
Chorale 'Es ist das Heil uns kommen her' is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include 13 Variations on 'Es war einmal ein alter Mann' by Ludwig van Beethoven, 12 Variations über die Folie d'Espagne, Wq.118/9 (H.263) by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, 12 Variations über die Folie d'Espagne, H.263 by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.