Chorale arrangement: Historical Retrospective of Method and Genre

Abstract

Chorales and chorale arrangements provide rich material for studying composers’ creative process. Chorale arrangements clearly reveal the degree of interaction between the borrowed and original material in compositions written at different stages of the musical history.

The method and genre of chorale arrangement are historically distanced. The method has its origins in the Middle Ages, passes through different epochs and receives a new life in modern music.

The genre of chorale arrangement was developed in the Baroque music. Many of I.S. Bach’s spiritual works draws their subjects and musical themes upon chorales. The large compositions of chorale arrangements may be found in F. Mendelssohn’s works. In contemporary music chorale melodies are presented only as quotations in the context of individual forms and genres.

By studying the creative embodiment of chorale arrangements in compositions belonging to different historical eras we can extend our understanding of the great masters’ creative styles.

 Keywords: baroque, chorale arrangements, I.S. Bach