inTAKT is a German ecumenical association (Verein) for the promotion of new Christian songs for church services (Neues Geistliches Lied, NGL), and of art, culture and musical education. Its members are mostly hymnwriters and composers interested in NGL.
Neues Geistliches Lied, abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers.
Patrick Dehm and Eugen Eckert founded the association, together with other authors and composers of NGL, on 8 April 2013. [1] Dehm became president, Eckert vice president, Annette Kreuzer and Thomas Gabriel were on the board, among others. [2] The association is ecumenical and open to all lyricists and composers of NGL. [1]
Patrick Dehm is a German Catholic theologian, supervisor and clinical Gestalt therapist. He and his brother founded the Eugen Dehm foundation, supporting a holistic health concept, in memory of their father.
Eugen Eckert is a German social worker, minister, singer-songwriter and academic teacher. He is known for his lyrics for new spiritual songs, and his oratorios and musical plays.
Thomas Gabriel is a German church musician, composer and arranger.
The name refers to the earlier group TAKT, short for TextAutor/innen- und Komponist/innen-Tagung (Convention of text authors and composers), which was founded in 1947 and took the name in 1997. Takt is also the German word for the musical measure, and intakt means intact.
TAKT is a group of writers and composers of new songs for tuse in Christian churches, initiated in 1947. The genre which the members promoted was later called Neues Geistliches Lied. The name is short for TextAutor/innen- und Komponist/innen-Tagung, a name that the group adopted in 1997.
The association supports continued musical education and the creation of new songs for church services. It supports hymnwriters, composers, artists, choirs and bands, by workshops, sheet music and coaching. It is interested in interaction between the generations, beginning with children's and youth groups, and in a singing congregation at church. [3]
Composers collaborating with inTAKT include Alexander Bayer , Dietmar Fischenich, Hans Florenz , Gabriel, Winfried Heurich, Jürgen Kandziora, Kai Lünnemann, Joachim Raabe, Dominik Sahm, Stephan Sahm and Ludger Stühlmeyer. Authors include Eckert, Bayer, Fischenich and Lutz Riehl.
Winfried Heurich is a German organist and composer.
Joachim Raabe is a German church musician and a composer of sacred music, especially of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied.
Ludger Stühlmeyer is a German cantor, composer, docent and musicologist.
The association took over the organisation of the Tag des Neuen Geistlichen Liedes (Day of NGL), an annual event in spring in Wetzlar from 1998, and an educational event on Spiekeroog during fall vacation, which began in 1997. [4] Beginning in 2014, an annual workshop has been held in Bad Tölz during Easter vacation.
Wetzlar is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is a former free imperial city that owed much of its fame to being the seat of the Imperial Supreme Court (Reichskammergericht) of the Holy Roman Empire. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn and is on the German Timber-Frame Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis on the north edge of the Taunus. The city is known for its ancient town and its medieval cathedral.
Spiekeroog is one of the East Frisian Islands, off the North Sea coast of Germany. It is situated between Langeoog to its west, and Wangerooge to its east. The island belongs to the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony in Germany. The only village on the island is also called Spiekeroog.The island is part of the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site by the UNESCO and the Wittbülten National Park.
Bad Tölz is a town in Bavaria, Germany and the administrative center of the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen.
The association published Die Träume hüten (Shepherd the dreams), a song book for choirs and bands with more than 200 songs. [5] Several of the authors' songs have been included in choir books and Christian hymnals, such as the Catholic Gotteslob and the Protestant Evangelisches Gesangbuch .
Clemens Bittlinger is a Protestant minister, author of books as well as a song writer of many new sacred songs and children songs in German.
Helmut Barbe is a German composer.
Lothar Zenetti was a German Catholic theologian, priest, and author of books and poetry. In Frankfurt, he was both a minister for young people and a parish priest. He was also active on radio and television. His songs, for example the popular "Das Weizenkorn muss sterben" and "Segne dieses Kind", appear in both Protestant and Catholic hymnals.
Michael Schütz is a German church musician, composer and university lecturer. He is especially dedicated to the connecting traditional musical styles with pop music styles, for songs of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied.
Peter Reulein is a German composer, organ improviser, academic teacher and church musician, from 2000 at the church Liebfrauen in Frankfurt am Main. In 2016 he composed for the Catholic Diocese of Limburg the Franciscan oratorio Laudato si'.
Helmut Schlegel OFM is a German Franciscan, Catholic priest, meditation instructor, author, librettist and songwriter. He is known for new spiritual songs, set by various composers.
Laudato si' is an oratorio composed in 2016 by Peter Reulein on a libretto by Helmut Schlegel. Subtitled Ein franziskanisches Magnificat, it includes the full Latin text of the Magnificat, expanded by writings of Clare of Assisi, Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis. The composer set it for five soloists, children's choir, Choralschola, mixed choir, symphony orchestra and organ. It was published in 2016 by the Dehm Verlag, and was premiered on 6 November 2016 at the Limburg Cathedral, conducted by the composer.
Peter Janssens was a German musician and composer who wrote and performed incidental music for several theatres, and songs and musicals of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied, a pioneer of Sacropop. He worked at a German theatre in Buenos Aires, set several works by Ernesto Cardenal to music and composed in 1992 a passion music, in memory of 500 years after the European invasion in Latin America.
Oskar Gottlieb Blarr is a German composer, organist, church musician and academic teacher.
"Glauben können wie du" is a Christian poem by Helmut Schlegel, written in 2009, and made a hymn of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied with a melody by Joachim Raabe the same year. It addresses Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be imitated living the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. The song is included in song books and the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob.
Christian David (1692–1751) was a German Lutheran missionary, writer and hymnwriter. He traveleled as a missionary of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde to Greenland and to Native Americans. He is known as the author of hymn stanzaas that were included in "Sonne der Gerechtigkeit" in 1932.
Stern über Bethlehem is a German sacred Christmas carol which Alfred Hans Zoller created in 1964 in the genre Neues Geistliches Lied. Used by star singers around Epiphany, it has become a popular song and is part of many German hymnals and songbooks.
Claus Wisser is a German entrepreneur and a patron of music and the arts. He was head of the service company Wisag which he founded, and has been chairman of its supervisory board from 2011. He is also known for being a founding member of the Rheingau Musik Festival, and chairman of its supporting association. He was twice a member of the Federal Convention to elect the German President.