RECLAIMING THE LUTHERAN CHORALES FOR THE CHURCH: Bring back those old hymns (at proper tempo)

Resources for restoring the great hymnic foundation of the Lutheran Church

"In a proper and pure public service of worship it is not only fitting and necessary that the preacher should preach only God's pure Word, but also that the congregation sing only pure hymns. Though this latter point is indeed necessary, yet it is without a doubt a matter of the greatest importance that the preacher choose from among the good hymns and assign them to be sung, precisely those which properly prepare the heart for hearing the Word of God and best serve to preserve and seal the Word already heard" (C.F.W. Walther, quoted in the Roots of Hymnody in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, 1965, page 23).

Paul Gerhardt

The chorale [kor-all] congregational hymn of the Lutheran church. The texts and music of many early chorales were adapted from pre-Reformation hymns, antiphons etc, and from other sources. Publications of numerous hymnbooks during and after Luther's lifetime helped to establish the chorale as a central item in the Divine Service and also stimulated the composition of new chorales.

After 1600 melodies were written by J. Crüger and others, but chorale composition centred more on writing new texts to four-part versions of existing melodies in ‘cantional’ style, i.e. with the melody in the top part, simple supporting lines in the others and a regular harmonic tread. This style, initiated by the Calvinist theologian Osiander, reached its highest point of development in the chorale harmonizations of J.S. Bach. Chorales were much used as the melodic basis for other compositions. The chorale concerto is a sacred vocal piece based on a chorale; composers include Praetorius, Schein and Scheidt. There are large-scale examples of the period c 1600-1620 with two or more vocal and instrumental choirs.

The chorale cantata is a cantata which is a setting of a chorale text (or partly a paraphrase of one, as in many of the cantatas of Bach's second cycle 1724-5), generally using the chorale melody in various ways. An earlier type was the chorale motet, a vocal work often with instrumental doubling, where the chorale served as a cantus firmus in the 16th century and later served as a basis for fugal imitation.

Forms for organ include the chorale prelude, a short setting for organ of a chorale strophe, intended as an introduction for congregational singing. It was developed by 17th-century north German composers, notably Buxtehude, and is seen at its finest in Bach's Orgelbüchlein; later examples include those of Brahms and Reger. The term is often loosely applied to any organ piece, except variations, based on a chorale melody.

The chorale fantasia is a more extended organ piece based on a chorale (the term has also been used for the elaborate opening choruses in Bach's chorale cantatas); the chorale fugue is an organ fugue based on a chorale melody; the chorale partita or chorale variations is a set of variations on a chorale melody.

(PDF) Ralph D. Gehrke - "Revitalizing Congregational Singing"

(PDF) Ralph D. Gehrke - "Suggestions For Furthering Congregational Appreciation Of The Better Lutheran Hymns"

(PDF) Robin A. Leaver - "The Chorale: Transcending Time and Culture"

(PDF) Peter Cage - "Sacramental Hymnody in American Lutheran Hymnals in the 19th Century"

(PDF) Jon D. Vieker - "'WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS': Late Nineteenth-Century Missouri Lutheran Attitudes toward Revivalism and the Gospel Song"

(PDF) Richard C. Resch - "Hymnody as Teacher of the Faith"

(PDF) Dennis Marzolf - "Luther in the Pew: Song and Worship"

(PDF) Essays from the 2007 Symposium on the Life and Work of Paul Gerhardt - Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada" (Lutheran Theological Review)

C.F.W. Walther - "Methodist Hymns in a Lutheran Sunday School?" (A letter from a Lutheran pastor in regard to the question of whether or not it is wise to use Methodist hymns in a Lutheran Sunday School.)

(PDF) Luther's Preface to the Babst hymnal (1545)

Chad Bird - "Lutheran Hymnody: Orthodoxy in Song"

An excerpt from "A Handbook of Church Music" edited by Carl Halter and Carl Schalk:

Confronted by the same array of hymnals that existed wherever German immigrants gathered to worship, Walther saw the necessity for a single hymnal for the Saxon congregations. At his instigation, the St. Louis congregation ("Old Trinity" as it is now popularly known) published a German hymnbook (1847) compiled by "several Lutheran pastors in Missouri" of whom Walther was undoubtedly the most influential. The criteria used in the selection of the hymns reflect Walther's concerns;

...the chief consideration was that they be pure in doctrine; that they have found almost universal acceptance within the orthodox German Lutheran Church...; that they express not so much the changing circumstances of individual persons but rather contain the language of the whole church. [Meyer, Moving Frontiers, p.182]

Equally important to the leaders of the Saxon immigrants wwas a concern for the restoration of the original melodic forms of the Lutheran chorales, which had become corrupted in the centuries since the Reformation. The deterioration of many melodies from their original rhythmic form to that of all equal-note melodies, together with the filling out of melodic steps with passing tones, and the slow dragging tempos had made congregational singing a dull and uninspiring affair. Against all of this Walther and his fellow pastors reacted strongly.

Already in the mid-1840s the St. Louis parishes had scheduled Singstunden (either a kind of "choir rehearsal" or possibly practice sessions for the entire congregation) for the purpose of practicing the old melodies. In 1849, the congregation resolved to introduce these old melodies gradually, and by mid-century they were on their way to becoming standard for congregational singing among these parishes. [Halter/Schalk, p.90,91]

Starke Kirchenlieder: dedicated to the appreciation and intentional promotion of hymns

The Good Shepherd Institute - CTS Fort Wayne

The Society for the Preservation of the Lutheran Chorale

"Lutheran Hymn Tune Music" PBwiki

Chorales of Johann Sebastian Bach

Reference on Vocal Works of Bach

Bach Cantatas

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (ELS)

Lutheran Service Book (LCMS/LCC - CPH)

a French Lutheran Hymnal - Liturgies et cantiques luthériens

Church Music Solutions

Liturgy Solutions