Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism. Ever since their publication and up to the present day, some of his works have been very popular in German-speaking Europe.
The Thomanerchor is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called Thomaner, reside in a boarding school, the Thomasalumnat and attend the St. Thomas School, Leipzig, a Gymnasium school with a linguistic profile and a focus on musical education. The younger members attend the primary school Grundschule Forum Thomanum or Anna-Magdalena-Bach-Schule. Johann Sebastian Bach served as Thomaskantor, director of the choir and church music in Leipzig, from 1723 to 1750.
The New Town Church is a main Lutheran parish church in Hanover, Germany. Its official name is St. John's Church of the court and city in the New Town at Hanover. The Baroque church was built in 1666–70 and is one of the oldest Protestant aisleless churches in Lower Saxony, conceived for the sermon as the main act of the Lutheran church service. Mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Field Marshal Carl August von Alten are buried here.
"Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit" is a popular Volkslied in German. It goes back to a song by Anton Wilhelm von Zuccalmaglio, first published in 1840 in a folk song collection. It gained popularity in the 1910s in the Wandervogel movement, and is now part of most song books in German. It has been set to choral music and modern songs. The beginning of the first line has been used as the title of books, a play and television series.
Praxis pietatis melica is a Protestant hymnal first published in the 17th century by Johann Crüger. The hymnal, which appeared under this title from 1647 to 1737 in 45 editions, has been described as "the most successful and widely-known Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century". Crüger composed melodies to texts that were published in the hymnal and are still sung today, including "Jesu, meine Freude", "Herzliebster Jesu", and "Nun danket alle Gott". Between 1647 and 1661, Crüger first printed 90 songs by his friend Paul Gerhardt, including "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden".
Rolf Schweizer was a German composer, choirmaster and church music director, who was based primarily at Pforzheim. Schweizer was part of the movement Neues Geistliches Lied, and his compositions, several of which appear in the Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG), were heavily influenced by contemporary secular music, especially jazz.
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.
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.
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.
Winfried Heurich is a German organist and composer. He was director of church music at Liebfrauen, Frankfurt from 1966 to 2000 and composed music for more than 400 songs.
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.
inTAKT is a German ecumenical association (Verein) for the promotion of new Christian songs for church services, and of art, culture and musical education. Its members are mostly hymnwriters and composers interested in NGL.
Johann Balthasar König was a German Baroque composer, especially of hymn melodies, having published a hymnal with 1,913 melodies. He was the church musician at Frankfurt's main Protestant church, the Katharinenkirche, and the town's Kapellmeister. He was also closely associated with Georg Philipp Telemann.
"Einer ist unser Leben" is a poem in five stanzas, written by Lothar Zenetti in 1973. It became a Christian hymn of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL) with a 1971 melody by Jean Liesse. The song is part of many hymnals, both Catholic and Protestant, and of songbooks, remaining popular in the 21st century.
Detlev Jöcker is a German composer, singer and songwriter, focused on songs with movement for small children. He has sold more than 13 million albums. He founded the publishing house Menschenkinder Verlag.
"O komm, du Geist der Wahrheit" is a Lutheran hymn for Pentecost in German. The text was written by Philipp Spitta, probably in 1827, and published in 1833 in the song collection Psalter und Harfe. It is a prayer to the Holy Spirit for courage to confession in a time poor in faith. The hymn which first appeared without a melody, is now usually sung to the 1529 melody of "Lob Gott getrost mit Singen". It is part of the current Protestant hymnal, and of other hymnals.
Johannes Petzold was a German church musician, composer of several hymnal songs and docent at the Thuringian Church Music School.
Habakuk is a German pop band from Frankfurt, formed in 1975. The group is focused on new Christian music of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied.
"Ich lobe meinen Gott, der aus der Tiefe mich holt" is a 1979 Christian hymn with words in German by Hans-Jürgen Netz and a melody by Christoph Lehmann. This Neues Geistliches Lied song has appeared in the German Protestant and Catholic hymnals. It is a preferred song for conventions such as Kirchentag.
"Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade" is a hymn with text by Josua Stegmann" written in 1627. The melody is taken from "Christus, der ist mein Leben", a 1609 song by Melchior Vulpius that became one of the key melodies in Protestant hymnody. It is part of several current hymnals, the Protestant Evangelisches Gesangbuch as EG 347, the Catholic Gotteslob as GL 436 and the Mennonitisches Gesangbuch as MG 149. It belongs to the ecumenical hymns.