Anthem

An Anthem is an English choral composition with spiritual text that is used in worship of the Anglican liturgy. In English usage, the term is also commonly used for a festive singing ( cf. National Anthem - National Anthem ).

History

The word "Anthem" is derived from the Greek ἀντίφωνα antefn via the Alt- Saxon, a word originally the same meaning as antiphon.

However, in the narrow sense, the term refers to a special type of church music, particularly in the worship of the Church of England, in their liturgy each an anthem during morning and evening services are provided ( " in choirs and places wherethey sing" ). Anthems will be sung by choir and vary in shape and complexity of the Hymns (municipality Songs) Psalms (easier psalmodies ). The traditional English coronation ceremony has several anthems. The set texts are taken from the Bible, or sometimes from the liturgy. There are anthems for solo voices ( Verse Anthem), for the entire choir (Full Anthem) or for a combination of choral and solo sections (full with verse ). Anthems in which goes beyond a possible instrumental accompaniment on the colla parte game are called Symphony Anthems.

The anthem has. Within the Anglican liturgy in about the value as the motet within the Catholic or Lutheran Liturgy Nevertheless, there is an independent, English musical form that encouraged since the founding of the Church of England in the 16th century, the contemporary composers such as Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye, William Byrd and Richard Farrant for compositions. In the 17th century followed, inter alia, Orlando Gibbons, John Blow and Henry Purcell, in the 18th then William Croft, William Boyce, James Kent, James Nares, Benjamin Cooke and Samuel Arnold, later George Frideric Handel.

Anthems arisen in the Church of England instead of the Catholic " votive antiphon ", which has its place at the end of the evening prayer ( Compline ) and is usually dedicated to the Virgin Mary or other saints.