In music, a chorale prelude is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each A chorale was originally a Hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 (with a 47th unfinished) examples of the form in his Orgelbüchlein. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" An unfinished work is a Creative work that has not been finished The Orgelbüchlein ("Little Organ Book" was written by Johann Sebastian Bach during the period of 1708–1714 while he was in court organist at the ^[1]

Function of a Chorale Prelude

The liturgical function of a chorale prelude in the Baroque period is debated. One possibility is that they were used to introduce the hymn about to be sung by the congregation, usually in a Protestant, and originally in a Lutheran, church. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther

Style

Although it was typically a polyphonic setting, the melody would be plainly audible. In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony There was sometimes an obbligato line above or below the melody. In classical music obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance As an independent genre, the chorale prelude began with the works of Dieterich Buxtehude, 48 of which are listed as extant in New Grove II. Dieterich Buxtehude ( Dietrich, Diderich) (c 1637 &ndash 9 May 1707 was a German-Danish Organist, Lutenist Numerous examples also exist from the 19th and 20th centuries, including some by Johannes Brahms and Max Reger. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger ( March 19 1873 &ndash May 11 1916) was a German Composer, conductor Works in the form continue to be composed in the present day.

Form

Most of the chorale prelude form is a theme and variation with a "long A" where the voices retrogade, invert, imitate while following the original basso continuo.

Early Chorale Prelude

Probably, the earliest record of a melody used in chorale prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach is his arrangement of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (BWV 604). WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" this melody appears in a manuscript c1370, in the city of Celle. Celle (ˈtsɛlə is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Later, it appears with an original text by Martin Luther, printed in the 'Geystliche Gesangk Buchleyn (edited by Johann Walter), in Wittenberg, 1524. In 1715, the hymn's book of Gotha, Gerrmany, had already printed thee melody of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ. Soon after, in 1717, Bach wass requested by the Duke of Saxe Gotha to present a musical passion. ^[2]
However, in a singular style, chorale prelude appeared first in the works of Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707), and includes 48 extensive compositions. Dieterich Buxtehude ( Dietrich, Diderich) (c 1637 &ndash 9 May 1707 was a German-Danish Organist, Lutenist ^[3]

The only known painting of Buxtehude (detail, Johannes Voorhout, 1674)

Besides Bach, Pachelbel's music is of special importance, with many of his chorale preludes elaborated upon the Protestant melodies of Northern Germany. ^[4]

Romantic Period and Twentieth Century

There are several examples of XIX and XX Century chorale preludes, for instance, the eleven works by Johannes Brahms a year before he died and published in 1902. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer ^[5], also Max Reger's and Samuel Barber's^[6] . Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger ( March 19 1873 &ndash May 11 1916) was a German Composer, conductor Samuel Osborne Barber II ( March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American Composer of Orchestral, Opera, Works such as these continue to be produced nowadays such as Helmut Walcha's four volumes. Helmut Walcha ( October 27, 1907 in Leipzig Germany &ndash August 11, 1991 in Frankfurt am Main Germany) was a blind ^[7]

Johannes Brahams' Chorale Prelude

Op. 122, eleven Chorale Preludes for Organ (1896)

• No. 1 Mein Jesu, der du mich
• No. 2 Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen
• No. 3 O Welt, ich muss dich lassen
• No. 4 Herzlich tut mich erfreuen
• No. 5 Schmücke dich, o Liebe Seele
• No. 6 O wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen
• No. 7 O Gott, du frommer Gott
• No. 8 Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen
• No. 9 Herzlich tut mich verlangen
• No. 10 Herzlich tut mich verlangen (second version)
• No. 11 O Welt, ich muss dich lassen (second version)

Max Reger's Chorale Prelude

Chorale Prelude for Organ, op. 79b (1900-1904)

• No. 1 'Ach Gott, verlaß mich nicht
• No. 2 'Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott
• No. 3 'Herr, nun selbst den Wagen halt'
• No. 4 'Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit
• No. 5 'Mit Fried und Freud fahr ich dahin'
• No. 6 'We weiss, wie nahe mir mein Ende'
• No. 7 'Auferstehn, ja auferstehn wirst Du'
• No. 8 'Christ ist erstanden von dem Tod'
• No. 9 'Christus, Der ist mein Leben'
• No. 10 'Mit Fried und Freud fahr ich dahin'
• No. 11 'Nun danket alle Gott'
• No. 12 'Herr, nun selbst den Wagen halt
• No. 13 'Warum solit ich mich gramen'
  

In addition to Max Reger's Opus 79b, he also wrote 30 small chorale preludes, op. 135a (1914)

References