his sacred choral music and as a champion of Neo-Baroque music. His works are a re-invention of old forms and genres, rich with word painting, based on the music of Heinrich Schütz and other early composers. His music is polyphonic and frequently melismatic, often based on the pentatonic scale. His works remain "tonally anchored", while at the same time they "reveal an innovative harmonic sense". Because of these characteristics, his music was stigmatized by some Nazis as "degenerate art". He is now recognized as "one of the most significant German composers of his generation". He is often associated with other German neo-Baroque choral composers, including Johann Nepomuk David, Ernst Pepping and Wolfgang Fortner. One of Distler's most prominent students, who carried on many of his rhythmic and harmonic innovations, was Jan Bender. Distler's style was spread by choirs in Germany and abroad during the years after World War II, stimulating and influencing other later composers. In 1953 a choir in Berlin was named for the composer, the Hugo-Distler-Chor, an ensemble that is still active today. In 1992 a German stamp was designed honouring him. Distler's style and importance spread to the United States through the influence of organists including Larry Palmer, who wrote the first important book on the composer in the English language, and subsequently by organist and composer Justin Rubin, who performed the entire cycle of Distler's keyboard works in New York City in 1995. Writings Postulat eines neuen musikalischen Lebens- und Gestaltungsprinzips, Der Wagen (1933), 77–84 Neue Unterrichtswege in der Berufsausbildung des praktischen Kirchenmusikers, Lübeckische Blätter, lxxvi (1934), 147–48 with E. Thienhaus: Die beiden Orgeln in St Jakobi zu Lübeck (Lübeck, 1935) Gedanken zum Problem der Registrierung alter, speziell Bachscher Orgelmusik, Musik und Kirche, xi (1939), 101–06 Funktionelle Harmonielehre (Kassel, 1941) Harmonielehre früher und jetzt, Zeitschrift für Hausmusik, x (1941), 41–46 Compositions and discography Opus 1 – Konzertante Sonate für 2 Klaviere (Concerto sonata for two pianos) Opus 2 – Choralmotette "Herzlich lieb hab’ ich dich, o Herr", on Schalling's hymn "I love you, O Lord" Hugo Distler Ensemble Lüneburg, cond. Erik Matz, Thorofon CTH 2551, Chorwerke (2008) Opus 3 – Eine deutsche Choralmesse (a German choral mass) Hugo Distler Ensemble Lüneburg, cond. Erik Matz, Thorofon CTH 2551, Chorwerke (2008) Opus 4 – Kleine Adventsmusik (Little Advent Music) Opus 5 – Der Jahrkreis (The Circle of the Liturgical Year) Westfälische Kantorei (Westphalian Chorale), Wilhelm Ehmann cond., Cantate