It was altogether natural and fitting that when he came to set the Passion he should have used the chorale as the most complete and satisfying exponent of the Protestant faith, for that was what it had come to be in Germany.
The Teutonism of Bach's music is to be seen not only in the intense earnestness and high intellectuality of it, but in its wide and significant employment of the German chorale and of a musical style developed therefrom.
But Mendelssohn saw one tremendous factor in the Bach oratorio,--the choraleas an embodiment of the Protestant faith of Germany.
The employment of the German chorale in Bach's Passion music was not only the result of his adherence to established custom, but the outcome of his life-long devotion to this characteristic embodiment of the spirit of Protestant Germany.
Bach treated the chorale melodies in many of his works, such as his organ chorales and his motets, as the medieval composers treated the cantus firmus, the liturgical chant.
This introduction of the chorale grew out of the custom, which had formerly prevailed, of asking the congregation at convenient points in the Passion to sing a hymn.
He employs the chorale to represent the voice of the Church, while modern chorus forms are used to represent the crowd.
I allude to the alto and bass airs; only the chorale must be given by a number of alto voices, and the bass very well sung.
Ich bin durch der Hoffnung Band,” Chorale and Fugue, for four and five Voices.
The magnificentchorale to which the hymn is sung is also Luther's work.
Light of light, enlighten me," a noble hymn of praise and adoration, has been happily wedded to a glorious chorale by Bach.
The famous chorale tune for the hymn was written in 1613 by Melchior Teschner, who was Herberger's precentor.
Mendelssohn introduces the air in his overture to "St. Paul," and the entire chorale occurs in his "Hymn of Praise.
Nicolai's name would have been gratefully remembered by posterity had he merely written the words of this hymn; but, when we learn that he also composed the magnificent chorale to which it is sung, we are led to marvel.
Natorp of Münster expressed himself strongly as to the need of restoring the chorale to its former position, and he was followed by the jurist Thibaut, whose work on “The Purity of Tone” has been translated into English.
He was to thechorale what Gerhardt was to the church song.
The name chorale singing, however, was still continued, and has come to be the technical and appropriate designation of the new mode.
The reform of the chorale was carried out most vigorously in Württemberg, but it was in Bavaria that the oldchorale in its primitive simplicity was most widely introduced.
The Six "Schuebler Chorale Preludes" And The "Clavieruebung," Part III.
The chorale was the exact opposite of the motette of the Netherlands.
In the example from the "St. Matthew Passion" there is a third choir of soprano voices which sings a chorale while the dramatic choirs are conversing.
In the later Protestant motets the chorale came to play a great part; the various stanzas of a hymn were given different settings, the foundation of each being the hymn tune.
Soon I seemed to hear the strains of a solemn chorale floating in the air; the sounds continued to grow more distinct; I realized the fact that they were men's voices chanting a church chorale.
Moving on rapidly down the hill, I was no longer able to see into the churchyard; the chorale came to an end, and I perceived not far distant from the gate some of the mourners returning from the funeral.
They sometimes conclude with the chorale in four parts.
This chorale is sung by the boys of the Thomas Schule, some forty in number, and the effect of the contrast of tone bringing it in is overwhelming.
This is a particularly interesting composition, since it is the only chorale in which we obtain any clue to Bach's methods of registering.
Of his compositions there remain four suites for orchestra, some small pieces for cembalo and some chorale arrangements.
The peculiar variety to be observed in the metrical construction of the German Chorale is directly traceable to the influence of the Volkslied, for Luther himself wrote sacred words for secular melodies.
Thus Handel in his Italian and English works wrote no entire chorale movements, yet what is the passage in the "Hallelujah" chorus from "the kingdom of this world" to the end but a treatment of the second part of the chorale Wachet auf?
How shall we describe the treatment of the words "And their cry came up unto the Lord" in the first chorus of Israel in Egypt, except as the treatment of a phrase of chorale or canto fermo?
In what way, except in the lack of symmetry in the Gregorian phrasing, do they differ from the contemporary setting by Orlando di Lasso, also a Roman Catholic, of the German chorale Vater unser im Himmelreich?
Tausig tied the little thread to a doppio movimento in two-four time, but thereby resulted sextolets, which threw the choraleinto still bolder relief.
The chorale of the trio is admirably devised and carried out.
Perhaps you know that little chorale that they've for the last seven years been singing in church?
The last note of the birds' evening choralehad long since died away.
It seems to be less generally known that the chorale plays a considerable though not systematic part in Handel's English works.
The masterly and attractive work consists, as most amateurs are aware, of eight variations and a finale on the 'Chorale St. Antoni.
At the entry of the chorale at the close of the work, however, an electric feeling passed through the packed hall as at the release from strained attention, and the applause which followed was loud and resounding.
The music was also altered, but its quartet-chorale form and slender accompaniment were retained.
From the time I first sent it away for the Birmingham performance I felt that it should not remain as it stood, with its verses and rimes, the only specimen of a Lutheran Chorale in this old-testamential work.
Soon I seemed to hear the strains of a solemn chorale floating in the air; the sounds continued to grow more distinct; I realised the fact that they were men's voices chanting a church chorale.
Hasse has succeeded in bringing thechorale into accordance with the Italian style of his oratorio, but he loses thereby the proper significance and effect of the chorale.
Magdalena and David now enter, and Sachs gives to Walther's "Prize Song" its musical baptism, utilizing chiefly the first and second lines of the chorale which opens the first act.
The congregation is singing the final choraleof the service.
The recitatives and solo airs would still further convey this meaning, while a chorale or hymn in four parts, with elaborate instrumental accompaniment, served to express the feelings of the whole congregation.
But if Bach in the consummation of the chorale perfected Luther's work in the realm of music, he in his Passion music finds worthy expression of a nation's devotion.
The chorale was introduced by Luther; it was perfected by Bach.
And the simple phrase at the beginning soon assumes fuller proportions, the harmonies gain in richness, a glowing ardour fills the music, and a chorale blends with the dances in triumphant majesty.
They sang one of his saddest melodies, Resignation, a setting of a poem of Eichendorff's, and a chorale by his old friend Bruckner, who had died several years before him.
Though the melody of the chorale is usually supposed to be Haydn's own, we cannot be sure that he had not taken it from a chorale that has now disappeared.
The theme by Haydn comes from an unpublished divertimento for wind instruments, preserved at the State Library in Berlin, which is inscribed "Divertimento mit dem Chorale St. Antoni.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "chorale" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
