Eugen Eckert (born 1954) is a German social worker, minister, singer-songwriter and academic teacher. He is known for his lyrics for new spiritual songs (
Neues Geistliches Lied
''Neues Geistliches Lied'' (, ''new spiritual song''), abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers.
History
The idea to reach youn ...
), and his oratorios and musical plays.
Career
Born in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, Eckert first worked as a social worker.
He studied from 1977 Protestant theology, pedagogic psychology and
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
at the
Frankfurt University
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
and the
Mainz University
The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 st ...
. In 1990 he became the minister of the Protestant parish of
Offenbach-Lauterborn.
He has been a minister for students (''Studentenpfarrer'') of the Frankfurt University since 1996, and is the minister of the stadium
Commerzbank-Arena
The Waldstadion (, ''Forest Stadium''), currently known as the Deutsche Bank Park for sponsorship purposes, and formerly known as the Commerzbank-Arena, is a retractable roof sports stadium in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. The home stadium of the ...
.
He has also worked for broadcasters and wrote books. From 1993 to 2013 he lectured at the
Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main
The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (german: Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, italic=no, link=no, HfMDK) is a state Hochschule for music, theatre and dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its k ...
.
Eckert wrote from 1976 lyrics of
Neues Geistliches Lied
''Neues Geistliches Lied'' (, ''new spiritual song''), abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers.
History
The idea to reach youn ...
, producing more than thousand songs, ten
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
s, several
Singspiel
A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk-like ...
e and
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning of ...
s.
He was in 1975 founding member of the band
Habakuk
Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
Almost al ...
, for which he has worked as songwriter, singer and manager.
Eckert was active in the
from 1980. When
Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst
Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (born 20 November 1959) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church and theologian. He was a vicar and an auxiliary bishop in Catholic Diocese of Münster, Münster before becoming the Bishop of Limburg in January 20 ...
, then the bishop, dismissed its president
Patrick Dehm
Patrick Dehm (born 1962) is a German Catholic theologian, supervisor and clinical Gestalt therapist. He and his brother founded the Eugen Dehm foundation, supporting a holistic health concept, in memory of their father.
Dehm is director of the D ...
as director of the "Haus der Begegnung",
Eckert resigned to express his protest.
Eckert is a founding member and vice president of the ecumenical association
inTAKT, founded on 8 April 2013 to promote Neues Geistliches Lied.
Selected works
Eckert wrote the lyrics for more than 1000 songs of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied, oratorios and musical plays. Several songs have been included in the Protestant hymnal ''
Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' and the Catholic hymnal ''
Gotteslob
''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...
''.
Oratorios
* ''Hiob'', 1994, music:
* ''Daniel'', 1996, music:
Thomas Gabriel
* ''Emmaus'', 2002, music: Gabriel
* ''Simeon'', 2007, music: Gabriel
* ''Eleasar'', 2008, music:
* ''Junia'', 2010, music: Gabriel
* ''Und dann war Licht'', 2013, Merseburger Orgeltage, music: Gabriel
* ''Maria'', 2014, music: Gabriel, premiered 29 March 2014, Evangelische Friedenskirche,
Ratingen
Ratingen ( li, Rotinge) is a town in the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the northwestern part of Berg about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf.
Administration
With a communal reform of 1975 the independent mu ...
* ''Feuerzungen'', 2014, music:
Peter Reulein
Peter Reulein (born 1966) is a German composer, organ improviser, academic teacher and church musician, from 2000 at the church Liebfrauen in Frankfurt am Main. In 2016 he composed for the Catholic Diocese of Limburg the Franciscan oratorio ''La ...
, premiered 7 June 2014,
Liebfrauen, Frankfurt
Liebfrauenkirche ("Our Lady", literally "Dear Lady") is a Gothic architecture, Gothic-style Catholic Church, Catholic parish church, located in the centre of Frankfurt, Germany. It was built in several phases from the 14th to the 16th century and s ...
* ''So lang hier stehet Stein auf Stein'', 2016, in memory of 350 years plague in
Flörsheim
* ''
Bruder Martin
is an oratorio composed by Thomas Gabriel to a libretto in German by Eugen Eckert. The work in seven scenes and a prologue is based on the life of Martin Luther. It was written for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. The composit ...
'', 2017,
Luther
Luther may refer to:
People
* Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation
* Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement
* Luther (give ...
oratorio, music: Gabriel, premiered on 17 September 2017, open air in
Tecklenburg
Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail.
The coat of arms shows an anchor a ...
* ''
Eins'', 2021, Ecumenical oratorio for
Ökumenischer Kirchentag 2021
The Ökumenischer Kirchentag 2021 (Ecumenical Church Assembly) was the third ecumenical convention of lay Christians of different denominations in Germany. It was held in Frankfurt, Hesse from 13 to 16 May 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the e ...
, text with
Helmut Schlegel
Helmut Alfons Schlegel (born 15 May 1943) is a German Franciscan, Catholic priest, meditation instructor, author, librettist and songwriter. He is known for writing new spiritual songs (Neues Geistliches Lied), set to music by various composers.
...
Songs
* "Besser als ich noch", 1999, music:
Horst Christill
Horst Christill (born 1959) is a German church musician and composer of sacred music, especially hymns of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL).
Life and career
Born in Annweiler am Trifels, Christill first studied from 1976 music pedagogy, foc ...
* "
Bewahre uns, Gott
"" ("Keep us, God") is a Christian hymn with text by Eugen Eckert to a melody from Argentina, of "La paz del Señor". The song of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied, a prayer for protection in hard times, is contained in several hymnals and songboo ...
", music:
* "Eingeladen zum Fest des Glaubens", music: Alejandro Veciana
* "Gott, deine Liebe reicht weit", music:
Winfried Heurich
Winfried Heurich (born 13 February 1940) is a German organist and composer.
Life
Born in Neuhof, Hesse, Heurich was from 1962 to 2000 the church musician of Liebfrauen in Frankfurt am Main. In 1973 he composed songs titled ''Ganz nah ist dei ...
* "
Gott, der du warst und bist und bleibst", music: Herbert Heine (1993)
* "
Gott hat mir längst einen Engel gesandt", music:
Thomas Gabriel
* "
Jesus Christus, Sohn des Lebens", music:
Peter Reulein
Peter Reulein (born 1966) is a German composer, organ improviser, academic teacher and church musician, from 2000 at the church Liebfrauen in Frankfurt am Main. In 2016 he composed for the Catholic Diocese of Limburg the Franciscan oratorio ''La ...
* "Ich lasse dich nicht", music: Reulein, song competition of the in Berlin 2003
* "
Lamm Gottes, für uns gegeben", music: Christill
* "
Meine engen Grenzen", music: Heurich and Gerhard Fleischer
* "
Ob ich sitze oder stehe ("Von allen Seiten umgibst du mich"), music: Torsten Hampel
* "Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen", music:
Ludger Stühlmeyer
Ludger Stühlmeyer (born 3 October 1961 in Melle, West Germany) is a German cantor, composer, docent and musicologist.
Biography
Stühlmeyer was born to a family of cantors and made his first steps under the guidance of his father in the town chu ...
* "Wir haben seinen Stern gesehen", music: Reulein
* "Wo die Liebe wohnt", music: Veciana
References
External links
*
HabakukWo Blumen den Asphalt aufbrechengesangbuch-lieder.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckert, Eugen
German social workers
German singer-songwriters
Goethe University Frankfurt alumni
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni
1954 births
Living people
Clergy from Frankfurt
Academic staff of the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts