[Chorale] Masterpieces of chorales. Recommended popular pieces.

Christ was bound by the cords of deathJ.S.Bach

Bach Cantata No. 4, Movement 2 – Burg Bach Chamber Choir.wmv

Johann Sebastian Bach, the great composer hailed as the father of music.

Among his many masterpieces, his early church cantatas written for Easter are works that convey a profound spirituality.

This particular piece is suffused with a heavy atmosphere, as if bound by the snares of death, yet at the same time it overflows with the radiance of life and the joy of the Resurrection that shatters those bonds.

One of its greatest attractions is how the young Bach renders this dramatic struggle between death and life with masterful penmanship.

Said to have premiered in April 1707, the work can be savored in a beautifully transparent performance on Bach Collegium Japan’s acclaimed recording, Bach Cantatas Vol.

1.

Give it a listen when you want to immerse yourself deeply in a world of majestic music.

Opera ‘Lohengrin’: Bridal ChorusRichard Wagner

Wagner: Opera 'Lohengrin': Bridal Chorus [Naxos Classical Curation #Healing]

A majestic and beautiful choral piece beloved as a melody of blessing at weddings around the world.

Richard Wagner, the German composer known for his many innovative operas, wrote this work for his opera Lohengrin, which premiered in August 1850.

It carries a heartwarming message of sincerely guiding the couple and blessing their future.

The melody, woven from brilliant and moving harmonies, truly strikes a chord.

After it was used at a British royal wedding in January 1858, the piece spread worldwide as a classic song of celebration.

Sacred yet filled with hope, it makes a perfect background music choice to grace life’s most special new beginnings.

Hymn No. 320: “Nearer, My God, to Thee”Sarah Adams

André Rieu – Nearer, My God, to Thee (live in Amsterdam)

Based on a passage from the Old Testament, a poem was written in the 19th century by the British writer Sarah Flower Adams.

The melody known today is based on the tune arranged by the American composer Lowell Mason.

In 1912, when the luxury liner RMS Titanic sank, it is said that the ship’s string players performed this piece on the deck as the vessel went down.

This story was also depicted in the 1997 film Titanic, helping to make the piece widely known.

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Pachelbel / Chorale Canon (Tokyo Solisten, March 14, 1983)Johann Pachelbel

Pachelbel / Chorale Canon (Tokyo Solisten, March 14, 1983)

It’s “Chorale ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’ and Canon in D major” by Johann Pachelbel, a German composer and organist of the Baroque period.

You might not be very familiar with this chorale, but the name “Pachelbel’s Canon” probably rings a bell for many.

Pachelbel had a significant influence on the development of the chorale prelude and the fugue, becoming one of the most important figures of the mid-Baroque era.

The opening, with its rich sonority of strings, differs from the canons we typically know, but the canon that flows in the latter half is certainly familiar!

Hymn 298: “Be at Peace, O My Heart”Jean Sibelius

Be at peace, my heart — Hymn No. 298

Arranged in 1932 by the composer himself from the main theme of Finnish representative violinist Jean Sibelius’s symphonic poem “Finlandia” for the Presbyterian Church’s official American hymnal, The Hymnal (1933), it quickly became famous.

The symphonic poem “Finlandia” itself was composed in 1899 in Finland, which was suffering under the oppressive rule of Imperial Russia, and it is still widely sung in Finland today as a second national song after the national anthem.

It is a hymn that sings of obedience to God and hopeful longing.

God is our strongholdMartin Luther

From page 10 of 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God [3D Band Book]'

This is “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” composed by Martin Luther, who was born in Eisleben in the Saxon region of the Holy Roman Empire.

It is a beautiful chorale that also appears in wind band method books.

Defying his parents’ wishes, Luther entered the Order of Saint Augustine and pursued the path of a monk.

The performance features a brass ensemble of trumpet, horn, trombone, and tuba, yet it achieves a rich, choir-like resonance, serving as a model performance for wind players—truly splendid.

RomanesqueJames Swearingen

Romanesque

This is Romanesque, composed by James Swearingen, a composer from the state of Ohio in the United States.

He is famous for writing very approachable pieces, and this chorale is likewise accessible, embodying Swearingen’s signature depth, warmth, and gentleness.

Since its release in 1982, it has remained a popular work frequently featured in concerts and is considered an essential original chorale in the wind band world.

Listen to it or perform it just once, and you’ll surely come to love it.