chorale

chorale (kōrăl`, –räl`), any of the traditional hymns of the German Protestant Church. The form was developed after the Reformation to replace the plainsong of the earlier service and as a means of congregational participation in the liturgy. Early chorales were mainly translations of Latin hymns set to folksong melodies. The chorale is strophic, written in simple language, and has a simple melody, but its phrasing and metrical structure are less regular than those of the English hymn. J. S. Bach reworked nearly 400 existing chorales and composed 30 new ones.

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chorale

Metrical hymn tune associated in common English usage with the Lutheran church in Germany. From early in the Reformation, chorales were to be sung by the congregation during the Protestant liturgy. The words of the Lutheran chorales were often Latin plainsong hymn texts translated into the vernacular. The melodies were often borrowed from secular song and therefore displayed great melodic and structural simplicity. In modern times the chorale is considered to be a musical setting, usually polyphonic (multivoiced), of a traditional religious text.