Lutheran chorale

A Lutheran chorale is a musical setting of a Lutheran hymn, intended to be sung by a congregation in a German Protestant Church service. The typical four-part setting of a chorale, in which the sopranos (and the congregation) sing the melody along with three lower voices, is known as a chorale harmonization.

Starting in 1523, Martin Luther began translating worship texts into German from the Latin (Marshall and Leaver 2001). This created an immediate need for a large repertoire of new hymns. He composed some hymns himself, such as A Mighty Fortress. For other hymns he adapted Gregorian chant melodies used in Roman Catholic worship to fit new German texts, sometimes using the same melody more than once. For example, he fitted the melody of the hymn "Veni redemptor gentium" to three different texts, "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich", "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort", and "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (Marshall and Leaver 2001). The first Lutheran hymns were published in 1524.(Tovey 1911, 6:269) These included the Achtliederbuch (known as the first Lutheran hymnal), the Enchiridion and Johann Walter's Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, the first to contain part song settings of Lutheran hymns.

Today, many of the Lutheran hymns are used in Protestant worship, sometimes sung in four-part harmony.

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