CHORALE PRELUDE

musical genre most closely associated with organ music for Protestant churches and epitomized by the numerous examples composed by J.S. Bach, who built upon a 17th-century tradition identified with the work of Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Pachelbel, among others. Reflecting the long-standing convention of improvised introductions to Lutheran chorales or hymn tunes to be sung by the entire congregation, the chorale prelude retained improvisational characteristics even as a fixed compositional type. Typical examples feature the hymn tune as a cantus firmus broken down into its constituent phrases played in long note values and preceded, accompanied, and followed by contrapuntal manipulations of their salient motivic substances. Generically, the term chorale prelude is often applied to compositions not genuinely associated with the chorale but preserving the genre's textural characteristics. The late 19th century witnessed a revival of the Lutheran chorale prelude with major works by Johannes Brahms (e.g., Opus 122) and Max Reger.