Sacred concerto[1] (German:geistliches Konzert,[2] plural:geistliche Konzerte,lit. 'spiritualconcerto (or:concert)') is a 17th-century genre ofsacred music, characterized as settings of religious texts requiring both vocal soloists andobbligato instrumental forces for performance.[3][4] Starting from Italian models, the genre flourished primarily in Germany.[3][4] It is a broad term for various genres of chamber concerto for a small number of voices and instruments popular in Germany during the 17th century and prefiguring the late baroquechurch cantata and solo sacred cantata forms.[5]
The stylistic roots of the concert lie in early baroque Italian models brought back to German by musicians such asHeinrich Schütz, and popularised by his contemporaries such asSamuel Scheidt. Some of these concerts take an Italianate dialogue or oratorio form, notably the works ofKaspar Förster and the dialogues of Schütz.
The next generation of composers working in this form includeJohann Schelle,Johann Philipp Förtsch,Sebastian Knüpfer,Dieterich Buxtehude and early members of theBach family, the works of whom have been partially preserved in theAltbachisches Archiv.Johann Pachelbel is another composer contributing to the genre, for instance hisChrist lag in Todesbanden,P 60, forSATB voices,strings,bassoon andcontinuo.[1][6][7]
Sacred Concerto - A piece of sacred music composed on a text that may be liturgical or non-liturgical (e. g., from the Psalms), which was sung after the Communion Hymn during the communion of the clergy at the Divine Liturgy. Sometimes hymns from other services, e. g., the All-Night Vigil, are sung asSacred Concertos.[8] German churchmusic of the Baroque era composed after the first half of 17th century was throughout the 20th century hardly ever indicated as sacred concerto or, in German,Geistliches Konzert. Pieces of this genre were mostly qualified as motets or as cantatas, for instance:
In 21st-century scholarship, the sacred concerto orgeistliches Konzert description is used more often to indicate compositions from the late 17th or early 18th century:
