LDV302

And that service came at a multiple crossroads, bringing together various heterogeneous elements to form a coherent whole: the Catholic and Protestant worlds, through borrowings from both Gregorian sources and those of German song; a framework of intellectual virtuosity and amore popular formof expression; and also compositional styles and techniques: simply harmonised for the choir or for the congregation, with the variable but not obligatory support of the keyboard, which is also liable todevelopornamental episodes between the verses, sometimes only figured, or else preluded on the organ in more or less elaborate versions; the chorale does not shut themusicianwithin a limited framework, but gives the work the freedom of form that is most appropriate to the meaning. These elements are condensed here and illustrate most of the processes that are used: from three to six voices, from the archaisticmotet style to that of the fantasy, from fugal or figural pieces to the ornate chorale, and not forgetting the trio. ANDRÉ ISOIR 29