Small Sacred Choral Music

Kurt Thomas’s Kleine Geistliche Chormusik is a collection of 20 motets that covers the whole of the liturgical year from Advent until Remembrance Day, including church-related occasions such as marriage, consecration day and funeral. Most motets are composed for four-part choir a cappella, some of them, however, are accompanied by organ, violin and/or flute. Nos. 2 and 5 are also scored for soprano solo and no. 18 for baritone (ad lib.). The exact scoring is often kept open since Thomas as a choirmaster knew about locally differing resources.

Regular divisions of the choir into two or even three individual parts, however, seem to call for an appropriate number of singers. The often-quoted Lutheran chorales appear for instance in the form of a cantus firmus or in unison, giving the opportunity of including the congregation in liturgical usage. The performance in concert, however, can also be rewarding by emphasizing the diversity and suspenseful contrasts of this music. The new edition combines all previous single editions in a modern and easy-to-read engraving image.