Renewal movement of Protestant church music after 1920
The renewal movement of Protestant church music after 1920 sought a new sanctification of the music of Protestant worship .
history
The renewal movement of Protestant church music was embedded in a neoclassicism that pervaded the entire European musical culture from around 1920 . It was rooted in the singing movement and took over from it the will for easy execution, for the singing of the lines and for immediate comprehensibility for the listener. Romantic sound forms, perceived as subjective, were excluded in favor of a return to the power of linearity, as can be experienced in Protestant chorale , and the connection of linear energies to polyphonic tensions. The main model of the compositional techniques was the a cappella music of the German high baroque , such as the choral music by Heinrich Schütz .
In the 1920s, Schütz-Pflege concentrated primarily on the motets of sacred choral music . One consequence was the establishment of the first, short-lived Heinrich Schütz Society in 1922. It was followed in 1930 by a Neue Schütz-Gesellschaft , which was later renamed and still exists today as the "International Heinrich Schütz-Gesellschaft" (ISG) based in Kassel. With annual Heinrich Schütz Festivals or Heinrich Schütz Days, this continues to promote the spread and understanding of the music of Schütz and his time.
Richard Gölz published the choral hymn book in 1934 , which for the first time in the 20th century brought out the most important church music works, especially from the Reformation and early Baroque periods, for choir work in the parishes. The choral hymn book is one of the standard works of every German Protestant church choir for worship singing up to the present day.
As a result of the renewal movement, the old choir practice was revived in some places . The renewal movement also provided important impulses for the organ movement of the 20th century, which appeared almost at the same time .
The Younger Liturgical Movement also saw itself at this time as a renewal movement with similar goals in terms of shaping the life of worship.
Important representatives
The most important representative of the renewal movement of Protestant church music after 1920 is Hugo Distler . Despite the intended ease of implementation, Distler always maintains an artistically high level.
In addition to him, Kurt Thomas , Johann Nepomuk David , Hans Grischkat , Ernst Pepping , Kurt Hessenberg and Helmut Bornefeld are well-known representatives of this church music reform movement.
Publications
- Music and Church , magazine from 1929