Christian liturgical traditions

Easter

Also known as Easter music, Eastertide music

A liturgical catch-all for music written to mark Easter and the Paschal season, from medieval sung drama to Bach’s great Easter cantatas.

Origins and context

Easter repertory developed within Christian worship for the Paschal season, especially in medieval Latin liturgy and later Protestant hymn and cantata traditions.

Christian liturgical traditions

The sound

Characteristics

Hymns
Choral writing
Organ
Strings
Brass
Continuo

History

The genre grows out of Christian liturgical practice rather than a single commercial style. In medieval Europe, Easter celebrations included sung dramatic rites such as the Visitatio sepulchri, and by the Reformation the holiday had inspired durable hymn traditions like Martin Luther’s "Christ lag in Todesbanden," later set memorably by Johann Sebastian Bach in his Easter cantata BWV 4. (deepblue.lib.umich.edu) Because Easter is a liturgical season rather than a fixed musical school, its sound has kept expanding across centuries: plainchant, chorales, and Baroque sacred music sit alongside later concert and recording traditions built around the same texts and feast-day meanings. That makes "Easter" less a narrow genre label than a practical umbrella for music written for the day, the season, and its themes of renewal. (deepblue.lib.umich.edu)

Notable artists

Easter

JSJohann Sebastian Bach
MLMartin Luther

Essential listening

1
Christ lag in Todes Banden, Cantata BWV 4
Johann Sebastian Bach; Concentus Musicus Wien; Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Apple Music
2
Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4: No. 4, Aria. "Jesus Christus, Gottes Sohn"
Johann Sebastian Bach; English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner; William Kendall
Spotify
3
Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4: Sinfonia
Johann Sebastian Bach; John Eliot Gardiner; English Baroque Soloists; Monteverdi Choir
Apple Music