An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is musical theatre, while oratorio is strictly a concert piece – though oratorios are sometimes staged as operas, and operas are sometimes presented in concert form. In an oratorio, the choir often plays a central role, and there is generally little or no interaction between the characters, and no props or elaborate costumes. A particularly important difference is in the typical subject matter of the text. Opera tends to deal with history and mythology, including age-old devices of romance, deception, and murder, whereas the plot of an oratorio often deals with sacred topics, making it appropriate for performance in the church. Catholic composers looked to the lives of saints and histories from the Bible while Protestant composers only to Biblical topics. Oratorios became extremely popular in early 17th-century Italy partly because of the success of opera and the Catholic Church's prohibition of spectacles during Lent. Oratorios became the main choice of music during that period for opera audiences.
The Magnificat is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos. It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical services of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Communion. Its name comes from the incipit of the Latin version of the text.
Limburg Cathedral (German: Limburger Dom, also known as Georgsdom after its dedication to Saint George, is located above the old town of Limburg in Hesse, Germany. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Limburg. Its high location on a rock above the river Lahn provides its visibility from far away. It is the result of an Early Gothic modernization of an originally Early Romanesque building and therefore shows a Romanesque-Gothic transitional style.
St. Martin is the name of a Catholic parish and church in Idstein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, Germany. The official name of the church is Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Martin. The name of the parish became St. Martin Idsteiner Land on 1 January 2017, when it was merged with five other parishes. The parish is part of the Diocese of Limburg.
Evangelii gaudium is a 2013 apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis "On the proclamation of the Gospel in today's world". In its opening paragraph, Pope Francis urged the entire Church "to embark on a new chapter of evangelism". According to the exhortation, the Church must understand itself as a community of missionary disciples, who are "permanently in a state of mission".
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 Alfons Schlegel is a German Franciscan, Catholic priest, meditation instructor, author, librettist and songwriter. He is known for writing new spiritual songs, set to music by various composers.
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.
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.
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.
A Choralschola, known simply as schola, is a choir for singing Gregorian chant or plainsong. It consists traditionally of only men, but more recent groups sometimes also include female voices. A schola often performs in uniform. The group may perform in the liturgy of church services, but some specialized ensembles also perform concerts and recordings, such as the Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle and the Schola Gregoriana Pragensis.
Joachim Raabe is a German church musician and a composer of sacred music, especially of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied.
"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.
Johannes Hill is a German baritone in concert and in oratorios, who has performed internationally. Singing in choirs from age 10, he has performed major roles in oratorios, such as both Jesus and Pilate in Bach's Passions, and Pope Francis in the premiere of Laudato si'. He has also performed in vocal ensembles such as Kammerchor Stuttgart and Collegium Vocale Gent.
Andreas Großmann is a German organist, church musician and conductor. He is the head of the Referat Kirchenmusik in the Diocese of Limburg, responsible for its church music.
"Gott, der du warst und bist und bleibst" is a Christian hymn with text by Eugen Eckert and a melody by Herbert Heine. It is also known by the title of its refrain, "Wir haben hier keine bleibende Stadt". The song was written in 1993, in the genre Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL). It appears in several regional sections of the German Catholic hymnal Gotteslob, and in other songbooks.
Eins is an oratorio written on a commission from the Ökumenischer Kirchentag 2021 in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, the third ecumenical convention of lay Christians of different denominations in Germany. The text was written jointly by the Protestant pastor Eugen Eckert and the Catholic Franciscan Helmut Schlegel. The music of many genres was composed by Peter Reulein for the more traditional parts and by Bernhard Kießig for jazz and pop elements. The work is subtitled Ökumenisches Oratorium in vier Bildern für Solisten, Chor, Orchester und Band.
Johannes M. Schröder is a German organist, composer and Catholic church musician. After several years responsible for the church music at the Westerwälder Dom, he moved to St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden. He is also a lecturer and a music editor.
"Auf dem Weg durch diese Nacht" is a Christian hymn created in 2005 by lyricist Eugen Eckert and composer Horst Christill. The song of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL), was first published and recorded in 2006, and has appeared in German hymnals and songbooks. Auf dem Weg durch diese Nacht became the title of a 2021 choral collection of new compositions for Abendlob.
