The inclusion of chorales in nineteenth-century oratorios provided a religious aura to these works even when performed in a concert setting. Furthermore, the chorale was seen as the epitome of Protestant music, and by extension German culture, thus taking on a nationalistic character as well. Composers drew from various chorale collections published in the eighteenth century for their source material. Because these collections included new chorales as well as old ones, the source materials represented a variety of musical styles. Mendelssohn's St. Paul consciously drew on Bach's St. Matthew Passion as a pattern for the use of chorales, but Mendelssohn uses fewer of them, and they differ in style and function from Bach. Mendelssohn also realized that his oratorios were concert music, not liturgical music. By contrast, Friedrich Schneider intended his Gethsemane und Golgotha to be a true liturgical work, including congregational participation in the chorales. Even works without chorales, such as Spohr's Des Heilands letzte Stunden, often included movements designed textually and musically to evoke the chorale.

Works: Carl Loewe: Das Sühnopfer des neuen Bundes (124, 134-35, 139-40); Heinrich Elkamp: Paulus (124-25); Carl Heinrich Graun: Der Tod Jesu (126-27); Felix Mendelssohn: St. Paul (127-31); Friedrich Schneider: Gethsemane und Golgotha (132-33); Carl Loewe: Die sieben Schläfer (137), Die Zerstörung von Jerusalem (137-38), Johann Huss (140-41).

Sources: Chorales: Schmucke dich O liebe Seele (124), Herzliebster Jesu (127, 132), Dir Herr will ich mich ergeben (128-29), Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her (128), Wachet auf (128-31, 132-22), O Jesu Christe, wahres Licht (128-29), Wir glauben all an einem Gott (128), O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden (132, 136), O Lamm Gottes (132), Aus tiefer Noth (132), Herr Jesu Christ mein Lebens Licht (132), Wie lieblich ist O Herr die Stätte (132), Erscheinen ist der herrlich Tag (137), Jesus meine Zuversicht (138), Grosser ist, o grosser Gott (139) Was mein Gott will, das gesheh allzeit (140-41); Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Geistliche Oden und Leider mit Melodien (124-25).

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s

Contributed by: Felix Cox