A leading early 17th-century organ genre in which each line of a German chorale, emulating the style of the contemporary chorale motet, is presented in fugal imitation, whereupon it may be further embellished with idiomatic keyboard figuration. The principal exponents of the chorale ricercare were Michael Praetorius and Scheidt. It is also referred to as ‘chorale canzona’, ‘chorale motet’ and ‘chorale fantasia’.
See Chorale settings.
ROBERT L. MARSHALL