Martin Luther(1483-1546)
Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany. He went to school at Magdeburg and Eisenach, and entered the University of Erfurt in 1501, graduating with a BA in 1502 and an MA in 1505. His father wished him to be a lawyer, but Luther was drawn to the study of the Scriptures, and spent three years in the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt. In 1507 he was ordained a priest, and went to the University of Wittenberg, where he lectured on philosophy and the Scriptures, becoming a powerful and influential preacher.
Luther continued to be a contributing part of the church as it started to decline in the late 15th century and one of the reasons why this happened was the selling of indulgences. These indulgences were basically a payment for the next life in heaven. Luther started to read some scriptures and underwent a modification in his views and beliefs. He was still devoted to the church, but he continued quest for inner peace, he turned from religious philosophy to the Bible. In the Bible, Luther found that the prophet Paul said that no amount of human merit could offer salvation, but only the grace of God. These conclusions ultimately led Luther to combat some doctrines and practices of the church. He was eventually was branded and excommunicated for his radical defiance of Papal authority.
After his excommunication, he returned to Wittenberg and spent most of his remaining lifetime carrying out a gradual change in the worship service. This was the Protestant Reformation. This reformation was not anti-Catholic, but what he formed was a separate and distinct Church. Luther preached about the Justification by Faith, which was the belief in the forgiveness of the individual. Luther's main emphasis of all his reforms stemmed from his stress on the importance of the individual and the person's salvation.
This included his musical reforms. It is with music as well as and the Bible that Luther had his reforms in the German Church. Luther was trained to become a singer and was in a boy's choir. Although the music Luther learned in the choir helped him, he was later exposed to the great music of the Okeghem, Isaac, Obrecht, and especially Josquin Des Prez (Joscan de pre), whom Luther greatly admired. He once stated: "Josquin is a master of notes, which must express what he desires; on the other hand, other choral composers must do what the notes dictate." In addition to his ability as a singer, he could also play the lute and the recorder.
When Luther began his musical reforms of the worship service, the German Church had developed a musical tradition of its own. It had been a custom for centuries to sing tropes and sequences in services along with the Amens, Kyries, and Alleluias. The German language was already employed with familiar parts of the service such as the Ten Commandments and some Psalms.
Therefore, Luther's intent was to retain and expand upon a musical tradition that was already in existence in German Churches. He was not the founder of congregational singing, but Luther contributed in establishing the practice of congregational singing in the Mass as a regular means of worship. Luther saw music as a gift from God, and he set about to gather music into the service of the church.
Luther changed the Mass in several ways:
1. Avoided the use of Gregorian melismas in his German chants.
2. Used a psalm in the Introit of the Mass.
3. Luther's try to make his musical reforms so that everyone would benefit. He didn't just think about the choir, skilled musicians, the priest, or the congregation, he tried to center on everyone. He recognized that all churches can't have skilled singers and musicians.
4. He simplified many works that were already established. Luther greatly shortened what was a very elaborate Ordinary in the Roman Mass.
5. But then became more elaborate at times. Luther's music is filled with melody. It has a greater range, a seventh, and uses wider intervals.
6. Luther's continued to use the same ideas that were used in the Latin Mass. He believed in liturgical freedom and this created a lot of elasticity in the liturgical practice. The entire service could be in German, but, it could be partly in Latin and partly German; He insisted upon the use of the German hymn in all worship services.
7. Luther strongly believed that the congregation should actively participate in the worship service. A means of achieving this was through the singing of hymns.
8. Therefore, it was the composition and adaptation of hymns that became Luther's most important musical contribution.
In 1524 the first Lutheran hymn book was published. There were eight metrical chorales included. Four of the hymns were composed by Luther himself. Between 1524 and 1545, Luther composed and compiled nine hymnals.
The melodies that were used were from:
1. German hymns of the Middle Ages.
2. Derived from Latin hymns
3. Originally associated with secular texts.
4. Melodies newly composed for the Lutheran service.
In conclusion, the Reformation brought into existence a new Church, a new liturgical service,
and many new musical practices. Luther modified the Mass and changed it from a liturgy sung by the choir and priests exclusively, to a vehicle of congregational worship that included all believers.
Old School Section
From the writings of the time we know that the Greeks had an active, vibrant musical life. Music played an important role in a variety of social contexts. Musical art was connected to literary art. Plato defined music as consisting of words, harmony, and rhythm, while Aristotle listed words, melody, and rhythm as the components of poetry. Plato and Aristotle's views of music reemerged at various times in the history of musical thought. Plato's roots were in mathematics and abstract thinking. Plato viewed that music should bring out excellence in a person and that excellence should shadow a pure and abstract reality. Aristotle's background in biological studies led him to take a more inductive and he adopted a more pragmatic view of music. Aristotle believed in mimesis, which means the he thought music shouldn't reflect abstractions but imitated human action. Aristotle believed that music should be used for pleasurable and practical means. Plato and Aristotle both believed in the doctrine of ethos (the belief that music can affect character and behavior). Aristotle believed that music can induce an emotional release.
Luther was very involved in music. He was a music lover and played the lute and the flute. Luther promoted hymns for congregational and devotional singing. These hymns in the Lutheran tradition are known as chorales. The chorale actually consists of a strophic text and a melody. Luther took on the task of writing some chorale texts himself; his most famous is called "A mighty fortress is our God." The chorale melodies were sometimes brand-new compositions by the reformed composers.