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

, 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

Arbeitskreis Kirchenmusik und Jugendseelsorge im Bistum Limburg ''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 ...

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:

* "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

*
Habakuk

Wo Blumen den Asphalt aufbrechen
gesangbuch-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