Aside from being the leading force in the Reformation, Martin Luther was also a skilled musician and hymnwriter. As was the case with many trained musicians in his day, he was an accomplished lute player and was said to have a “pleasant tenor” singing voice. His full acceptance and usage of music in liturgy is actually one of his reformations to the Christian liturgy. There were some theologians who were distrustful of music and its effect on emotions, and music was often performed by a select few, but Luther knew it to be a wonderful, expressive tool.
Luther excelled in notating and harmonizing folk tunes and setting paraphrased and translated psalms to them, letting the local congregations use the music they knew to sing the words of the bible. His hymn writing also extended to original tunes and lyrics, mostly written in his native German, though he would still occasionally write in the classic Latin.
The idea of choral singing within liturgies was extremely important to Luther, and he knew that in order to use music to its full force – having everyone sing and not just a select group – music education would have to be provided to everyone. As such, it became commonplace for schools and parishes related to Luther’s teachings to teach music and singing.
The video shared at the top of this post is one of Luther’s very first hymns, “Dear Christians, One and All Rejoice.” (Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein) This was the very first hymn to be printed in any Lutheran hymnal. In 1524, Luther, along with Paul Speratus, created the first Lutheran Hymnal, Achtliederbuch (Eight Sons Book). Appropriately enough, it included eight hymns. This book was expanded upon in the next year to include twenty-five hymns and included more musicians that Luther worked with such as Johann Walter.
Martin Luther and his family by G.A. Spangenberg (1866)
This cultural shift to have choral singing so integrated into church services obviously left a lasting impression, as it is the norm in most denominations to this day. Not only was it influential in the world of Christianity, but it left a lasting impression on western music theory.
Johann Sebastian Bach often used hymn tunes penned by Martin Luther to expand upon in his own choral writings. It was actually a bit of a challenge for me to find original performances of Luther’s music as many of the tunes have Bach arrangements (or even more modern arrangements). And, as someone that has a music degree, I can assure you that Bach is a pilar of western music theory, and his chorales are the standard taught in all music theory classes for an understanding of harmony.
So, not only was Luther a revolutionary in the theological world, but echoes of his work are also felt in the music world, proving Luther’s own belief that music is an extremely important tool for expression and learning.
Komentarze