Lutheran

What it means

Lutheran designates the connection to Lutheran church music, as it developed since the Reformation. Its core is the hymn in the vernacular, sung by the congregation. From this a musical tradition of its own arises: chorale melodies with German texts, four-part settings of these melodies, organ arrangements, and larger works built on the chorale. The Latin liturgy was not entirely displaced but partly taken over and combined with the new body of hymns.

Musical use

The chorale is the connecting element. It appears as a plain congregational song, as an artful choral setting, as the basis of an organ prelude, and as a carrying layer in cantata, motet, and Passion, where its melody often runs in long note values through a moving texture. For listeners of the period of origin, the melody together with its text was familiar, so that its appearance carried a meaning that today must first be uncovered. The church cantata arose in this environment as music for a particular Sunday, related to its readings.

Performance practice

For every work built on a chorale, know the underlying melody and its text; organization, tempo, and weight follow from this. Check which version of the melody is meant, since chorales survive in various rhythmic and tonal variants. With choral settings, take care to keep the melodic voice audible without suppressing the other voices. For accompanying the congregation, choose a registration that carries without covering, and give a prelude that clearly establishes key and tempo. Coordinate the choice of hymns with the Sunday of the church year.

Bear in mind that knowledge of the chorale melodies belongs to the basic equipment when performing music of this environment: many works quote them, and without knowledge of melody and text, allusions go unnoticed. Keep an overview of the frequently used hymns. Check which version of the melody a movement presupposes, since variants exist. Inform yourself about the congregation's current hymnal, because melody versions and the number of stanzas can differ. Use hymn preludes to indicate key and tempo clearly for the congregation.