ABSTRACT
During the seventeenth century, several movements had a marked effect on the development of hymnody in Germany. There is something of a paradox, since on the one hand he was creating new melodies, yet, on the other hand, at least as far as Gerhardt's hymns were concerned, his preference was with traditional chorale melodies of the sixteenth century. Thus, in effect, two chorale genres existed in parallel: the congregational hymn in church and the soloistic hymnic aria in the home, though they were not mutually exclusive. If the discussion of Bach's contribution to the Schemelli Gesangbuch is restricted to the sixty-nine melodies that occur with their figured basses in the hymnal, then the questions raised cautiously by Durr and Blankenburg will receive inadequate answers. The singing of choir and congregation in alternation has a long history in Lutheran tradition.
