CHORALE

Chorale: translation

Borrowed from the German, where it connotes sacred singing, in English it refers more precisely toLutheran congregationalvernacularhymnsand their four-voice harmonizations.Martin Lutherenthusiastically promoted the chorale as a central element in Lutheran liturgy in the belief that worshippers should participate in the proclamation of the Word of God. He contributed both texts and melodies to the first Lutheran collections that appeared in Wittenberg in 1524:Etlich Christlich lider, known as the "Achtliederbuch"; {}Erfurter Enchiridion; and he wrote the foreword toJohannWalther’sWittenberger Geystliches Gesangk Buchlein.The steady stream of new publications throughout the 16th century shows how fervently congregations welcomed this kind of liturgical music. Luther’s adaptation of the Latin liturgy, theDeutsche Messeof 1526, began to substitute chorales in German for traditionalordinaryprayers. Eventually, a typical Germanmassmight replace the Gloria byAllein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr; the Credo byWir glauben{}all an einen Gott; the Sanctus byJesaja dem Propheten das geschah; the Agnus Dei byChriste, du Lamm Gottes. (The last three are all Luther’s own.) The Greek of the Kyrie remained but could have a Germantropesuch asKyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit. A chorale sung between the Epistle and the Gospel, theGradual-lied, eventually became the thematic chorale for the service. Others might be used in place of Latinpropersas the occasion demanded.

Some early chorales are simply ancient Latin hymns whose melodies weremetricizedand adapted to German translations of the original. Luther’s ownNun komm, der Heiden Heilandcomes fromVeni{}redemptor gentium. Other chorales derived from old German traditions of sacred folksong, including pilgrim songs, Crusader songs, {}Geisslerlieder(penitential songs), and 15th-century devotional songs, often with mixed German and Latin (macaronic text), typically associated with popular feasts such as Christmas. Others arecontrafacta, with an entirely new text applied to a secular song. Still others have entirely original tunes and texts.

Since chorales were widely used in schools as well as liturgy, both tunes and texts became very well known. By the late 16th century, the repertory was sufficiently large and inculturated so as to supply an inexhaustible resource of material for new compositional forms, just as the Latinchantrepertory underlay the flowering ofpolyphony:chorale motet, choral mass, chorale cantata, and much of the great repertory oforgan preludesstemmed from this popular sacred music. In such guises, the chorale melody might be sung or played out in long durations with surrounding free melody, as was the ancientcantus firmus, or it might serve as thesubjectofimitative counterpoint, with each chorale phrase initiating a new section. Chorale melodies long associated with particular feasts could amplify or specify the semantics of a composition, as whenJohann Sebastian BachimplantsO Lamm Gottes unschuldigas a cantus firmus in the midst of the opening chorus from theSt. Matthew Passion.

See alsoCantional; Chanson Spirituelle; Lauda.