Chorale facts for kids

This picture shows the third part of a chorale in a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. It's from his cantata called Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme.

This is a handwritten music sheet by Bach. It's for an organ piece based on the hymn "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern".

A chorale (say it: "Ko-RAHL") is a special type of hymn. It is sung by everyone in a Lutheran church. Chorales became popular during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Most of them were written around that time.

How Chorales Started

Martin Luther believed that churchgoers, also called the congregation, should have music that was easy to sing. He also thought the words should be in German, not Latin. This way, everyone could understand what they were singing.

Luther wrote the words for many chorales himself. He even created some of the melodies. A famous example is Ein' feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress). Sometimes, he took old Gregorian chant melodies from the Catholic Church and added new German words. One example is Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lay in Death's Dark Bonds).

What Makes a Chorale Special?

The words of a chorale usually have a rhyming pattern. Most of the melodies follow a special shape called "Bar form." This means the first part of the melody is sung twice. Then, a different second part is sung. This pattern is often called AAB.

Chorales in Famous Music

Johann Sebastian Bach used many chorale tunes in his music. He often added his own harmony to them. You can hear these in his cantatas. Many of Bach's four-part chorales are still sung as hymns today. They are popular in German Protestant churches. Some of these tunes are also used in English-speaking countries.

Chorale tunes also appear in pieces for the organ. These are called chorale preludes. Organists would usually play these pieces during church services. They would play them just before the congregation sang the chorale.

Many composers after Bach also used chorales in their works. These include Felix Mendelssohn, Anton Bruckner, and Max Reger.

Images for kids

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  Bach's four-part chorale setting of "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden"

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  This picture shows how Busoni planned his Fantasia contrappuntistica music. Chorales appear in parts 1 and 11.

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  "Préface" (preface) and "Choral inappétissant" (unsavoury chorale), first page of Satie's handwritten music for Sports et divertissements (dated May 15, 1914)

See also

In Spanish: Coral (música) para niños