In music, a chorale monody was a type of a sacred composition of the very early German Baroque era. It was for solo voice and accompanying instruments, usually basso continuo, and was closely related to the contemporary Italian style of monody. Almost all examples of chorale monodies were written in the first half of the 17th century.

A chorale monody used the text of a chorale, but rarely if ever used the chorale tune, at least not in a recognizable form. It was also related to the concertato madrigal, another contemporary Italian form.

Composers

Composers of chorale monodies included:

• Johann Schein
• Heinrich Schütz

References

• Articles "Chorale monody", "Chorale settings", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
• Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0393097455