CoverChorale is a musical genre that has been played by various German Protestant and Catholic church and pop musicians since 2014 at the Church and Catholic Days in Regensburg (2014), Stuttgart (2015), Leipzig (2016), Berlin-Wittenberg (2017) and Dortmund (2019) and has the following characteristics:
Belonging to the genre of 2nd hymn,
as far as possible, use the original religious text of a classical hymn author (such as Paul Gerhardt 1607-1676, Friedrich Spee 1591-1635, Joseph Mohr 1792-1848 or Martin Luther 1483-1546),
widespread use of the composer's original melody (such as Johann Crueger 1598-1662, Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750 or Johann Rudolph Ahle 1625-1673),
Arrangement in the style of today's popular music (such as rock, swing or folk music),
active use in worship.
The CoverChorale is a hymn that is sung by the parish itself rather than performed and is seldom accompanied by an organ, harmonium or guitar. Instead they are often accompanied by small chamber orchestras, bands or pianists.
The CoverChorale follows less in the tradition of the new spiritual song (New Spiritual Song), worship and worship with its text and melody creations, than with the adaptations and reinterpretations of classical compositions that are customary outside of church services. Examples of which are the so-called "Play Bach" (see Jacques Loussier 1934-2019) as well as church hymns performed in jazz and pop music (such as Sarah Kaiser *1974 or Dieter Falk *1959) - and uses them in church services.
So that the songs can be used for worship services, the text and melody are kept easy to follow and mostly not changed. Meanwhile, harmonies, additional voices and arrangements correspond to today's music tastes and appeal to different generations in order to encourage people to sing along and make music as well as singing and reenacting.
Interpreters in English-speaking countries are e.g. the CoverChorale.Compagnie. Performers in German-speaking countries include ConTakt Musik e.V. in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the region where Paul Gerhardt was born and Martin Luther's domain.
CoverChorale
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