Musical Offerings Soli Deo Gloria An Undergraduate Journal of Musicology Fall 2021 Volume 12, Number 2
Editor-in-Chief Sandra S. Yang, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Music History, Cedarville University Associate Editor Gregory A. Martin, M.L.I.S., M.M. Associate Professor of Library Science, Cedarville University Assistant Editors Phillipa Burgess, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor, Sinclair Community College Tricia Clark, B.A. Library Digital Services Specialist, Cedarville University Consulting Editors David L. Matson, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Music History, Cedarville University Copy Editor Jacy A. Stahlhut, B.A. Music Student Editor Lydia Kee B.M.E student, Cedarville University On the cover: “Ravensburg Stadtkirche,” photo taken by Andreas Praefcke of the lower portion of the stained-glass window dedicated to Luther. This window was drawn by Gustav König and produced in the shop of Ludwig Mittermaier between 1860 and 1862. They are found in the Evangelische Stadtkirche Ravensburg (Ravensburg Evangelical Church), which was completed and dedicated in 1349 for the Catholic Church. It became an Evangelical church during the Reformation and displays 4 stained-glass windows of the four reformers. Musical Offerings is an online, open-access journal published by the Cedarville University Department of Music and Worship. Since 2010, it has published articles in the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, music history, and church music history. This journal is available in print as well as electronically through Cedarville’s institutional repository, DigitalCommons@Cedarville. ISSN 2167-3799 (Online) ISSN 2330-8206 (Print) http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/musicalofferings/
Contents Fall 2021 Volume 12, Number 2 The Rise of Opera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo 39 Allison Zieg Re-forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran Reformation 51 Soraya Peront Hildegard: A Trailblazer? 63 Emilie Schulze
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 39 Musical Offerings 12, no. 2 (2021): 39–50 ISSN 2330-8206 (print); ISSN 2167-3799 (online) © 2021, Allison Zieg, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) The Rise of Opera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo Allison Zieg Cedarville University hroughout the Renaissance, there emerged a desire to better understand humanity through a philosophy that came to be known as humanism.1 Renaissance scholars reflected on the ancient Greek and Roman lifestyle with the help of newly discovered writings.2 Their aim was to use past philosophy and perspectives to help better understand and grow human potential. The philosophy of humanism is applied to practically every practice during the Renaissance period, such as the sciences, literature, and music. The ancient perspectives of great thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and the like were not seen as outdated and irrelevant, but rather notable ideas that were crucial to the development of music, specifically during the Renaissance. Throughout this musical development began the rise of opera. While there were several key composers that led in the creation of opera such as Jacopo Peri, Claudio Monteverdi received praise as the first major opera composer, having three major operas that have survived to this day.3 These humanistic ideals and Greco-Roman philosophies are the grounding for his compositions. Opera historian Mark Ringer explains, “Monteverdi’s music speaks to us with unparalleled directness. He found the means for the first comprehensive portrayal of the human subject in music. He taught humanity what we look and sound like on the operatic stage.”4 Without the revival of ancient Greco-Roman ideas and the desire to learn more about human thought and emotion, opera may have never emerged. New Renaissance musical qualities combined with humanism 1 Burkholder, 139. 2 Burkholder, 138. 3 Ringer, ix. 4 Ringer, x. T
Zieg ⦁ Monteverdi’s Orfeo 40 and ancient Greco-Roman ideals led to the creation of opera as seen specifically in Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Humanistic concepts were synthesized with new Renaissance musical traditions to create the grounding for opera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo. In order to examine Monteverdi’s use of Renaissance musical qualities in Orfeo, one must also survey his prior impactful compositions. In his early years as a composer, Monteverdi used the Renaissance polyphonic writing style to create what is known as the madrigal.5 A madrigal is a vocal work generally for two to five voices that is usually polyphonic and contrapuntal.6 His first book of madrigals was published in 1587 when the Renaissance was at its peak.7 These madrigals were put together in books such as Madrigali, libro primo, containing seventeen madrigals, and Il secondo libro de madrigali, containing twenty. These vocal works were the basis for Monteverdi’s career, and these writings served as a vehicle for his other compositions. Not only were they impactful musically, but they also held the Renaissance quality of humanism and the expression of emotion. Opera expert Silke Leopold explains, “The inner balance and the lively composure of this madrigal represent the culmination of the Renaissance spirit, the outcome of an emotional attitude towards life which derives its strength from the consciousness of having a fixed place in the universe.”8 Orfeo uses Monteverdi’s madrigal and contrapuntal style several times. For example, the chorus (coro di spiriti) at the end of Act III sings a madrigal for five voices that creates “one of the richest textures” in the entire opera.9 The madrigal is contrapuntal, but mostly homophonic with a few moments of polyphony in order to directly portray the text. Madrigals also contained an imitative feature called madrigalisms, in which striking musical moments depict the text almost literally.10 This was very effective in portraying the deep emotion present in opera. There is a madrigalism in Act II in “Ahi caso acerbo” with a diminished, dissonant chord on the word “acerbo,” which means bitter. Another musical development in the late Renaissance present in Orfeo is the basso continuo. The basso continuo is one or more low instruments playing the bass line, and then another instrument playing improvised 5 Ringer, 4. 6 Ringer, 5. 7 Ringer, 4–5. 8 Leopold, quoted by Ringer, 6. 9 Ringer, 73. 10 Burkholder, 218.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 41 chords over top.11 The use of the bass was the foundation of instrumental music in the Renaissance. In his orchestra, Monteverdi had plenty of chord-playing instruments that could realize the figured bass, such as harps, lutes, harpsichords, and organs.12 These instruments playing the basso continuo were present in almost every song during Orfeo. Monteverdi wrote for a variety of soloists and a richly varied orchestra, but not for both together. For him, as for the members of the Camerata, or the Italian society of poets and musicians, the solo voice was to be supported as lightly as possible, with continuo only.13 For example, Orfeo’s aria “Scorto da te mio nume” at the beginning of Act III is accompanied simply by a basso continuo.14 Plucking the bass line on stringed instruments allowed for adequate text declamation (Example 1). Example 1: “Scorto da te mio nume,” mm. 1–5.15 Another development of late Renaissance music present in Monteverdi’s Orfeo is the use of purely instrumental music such as the toccata. Instrumental music and instruments accompanying soloists and singers were on the rise during the Renaissance. There were several common instrumental genres throughout this period such as the ricercare, the 11 Hamm, 126. 12 Hamm, 128. 13 Hamm, 129. 14 Monteverdi, 72. 15 Monteverdi, 77, https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/310353.
Zieg ⦁ Monteverdi’s Orfeo 42 canzona, the toccata, the variation, dance types, and the fantasia.16 That being said, instrumental music was still taken from vocal music, and adapted for instruments. Nonetheless, treatises were being written on how to properly compose for instruments and what their role in music should be. As Howard Brown, American musicologist explained, “By the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth, composers like Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi were beginning more regularly to offer advice about instrumentation.”17 In almost every opera, the orchestra plays preliminary music before the dialogue and singing begins.18 This instrumental music, or prelude, serves to give a clue about what the composer has written, and set the tone for the drama. Monteverdi used instrumental music exactly in this way as the call to action in Orfeo. The opening toccata in the opera is set to play three times before the curtain rises and is scored for brass.19 This piece sounds similar to a fanfare, and while it has no relation to the rest of the music in the opera, it could stand alone and function as a prelude to the opera (Example 2). Example 2: Toccata, mm. 1–2.20 Monteverdi skillfully used these Renaissance musical inventions to portray the ever-present philosophy of humanism, which focused on persuasion. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and was a concept that humanists began to understand through the thoughts of ancient 16 Brown, 257. 17 Brown, 261. 18 Hamm, 159. 19 Hamm, 160. 20 Monteverdi, 1, https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/310353.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 43 thinkers.21 The act of expressing emotion and convincing the audience of an idea was a large part of the humanistic movement. Composers of the day believed the current style of music was not capable of adequately arousing the emotions of the audience, and according to both Aristotle and Plato, catharsis is to be achieved through music.22 Catharsis is considered to be the process of releasing and expressing emotions, which greatly reflects being in touch with humanity and oneself. The composers had the job of persuading the audience to experience these emotions and feel what the story was expressing. The ancient Greeks were convinced everything they did needed to have a purpose, and some sort of connection with their emotions. Imitation or representation of humanity needed to be present in art. They believed if music did not express human understanding, deepen one’s perception of themselves or persuade the audience to feel a certain way, then it should not be played. This followed the Greek ideal that man is the measure of all things. Music was not simply art for pleasure but needed to have a purpose.23 The beliefs of these ancient philosophers was reflected in the musical progress of opera. One of these changes clearly observable in Renaissance music and early operas was the divergence from the concept “music of the spheres.” This was the ancient Greek belief that the universe is logical and parallels the characteristics of musical harmony.24 While many ancient Greek philosophies were used in Renaissance music, the strictly mathematical approach was left as music became more emotional. Ancient philosophers saw and made connections between music, mathematics, and astronomy. Astronomers believed that the harmonies from the spheres provided a model for how earthly music should sound.25 For example, professor of music education George Rogers explains, “Pythagoras discovered that musical intervals, and hence all harmony, are based on mathematical ratios, ratios that also, amazingly, appear in astronomy.”26 Music was strictly a mathematical concept for the ancient Greeks, and it appeared to them that the universe naturally ordained musical harmony. Renaissance music, however, shifted from this cosmological view of music to an anthropological one. Music was viewed as less nebulous and from the heavens and became something 21 Cohen, 14. 22 Cohen, 15. 23 Cohen, 16. 24 Rogers, 41. 25 Rogers, 41. 26 Rogers, 42.
Zieg ⦁ Monteverdi’s Orfeo 44 humanistic and man produced. Composers developed a desire to write music that was inspired by the words and represented the meaning of the text well.27 Instead of revolving the words around the music, the words became of primary importance. This is what Monteverdi called seconda prattica, or the necessity of breaking musical norms in order to express the emotion. This was a new musical idea that was vitally important in shaping opera. While Renaissance composers took many elements from the Greco-Roman times and applied them to their compositions, they also took these ideas and shifted them to embody humanism. Brown explains, “The emancipation from medieval ways of thought and the restrictions of pre-formed structure meant that music became for the first time a self-sufficient, self-generated art.”28 This transition to an anthropological view of music emphasizes the philosophy of humanism and paved the way for the creation of opera. Monteverdi’s Orfeo is a prime example of these humanistic qualities coming to life through music. Using the human voice in specific, musical ways, and declaring the words clearly was a way to achieve catharsis. In Politics of Opera, Mitchell Cohen explains, “A solo voice or choral music could declaim words in a powerfully communicative way, provided they were composed in a certain way. There had to be a single melodic line and simple accompaniment. Called ‘monody’ in the next century, it became a key expressive aspect of early opera.”29 The use of monody in Orfeo helps convey the emotions and better persuade the audience of the emotion of the scene. For example, in the opening of Act I, Monteverdi uses clear and syllabic text declamation for the second shepherd to set the scene and explain the emotional state of the drama.30 The shepherd sings on a single melodic line with a simple, chordal accompaniment of harpsichord, double bass, and viola. This approach directly highlights the text and plot of the opera. The shepherd is singing about a joyous day, and the sweet melodies in the air. Monteverdi uses a simple accompaniment consisting of just a basso continuo all throughout the opera, emphasizing the text of the story (Example 3). 27 Brown, 3. 28 Brown, 3. 29 Cohen, 15. 30 Monteverdi, 9, https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/310353.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 45 Example 3: “In questo lieto e fortunato giorno,” mm. 1–2.31 Musical speech was the voice of a drama, and the only way to express the text successfully and clearly.32 Rhetoric, one of the most prominent characteristics of humanism, is seen all throughout Monteverdi’s Orfeo. The rhetorician is focused on expressing a particular point of view to the public through the patterns of speech and form of delivery.33 If music is to be used to depict a story, then it can be very effective in evoking emotion from an audience if delivered clearly. The consistent use of recitative, which is a form of musical speech, and clear, syllabic text declaration throughout the opera helped Monteverdi persuade the audience. For example, in the recitative with the shepherd in Act I mentioned above, he makes the audience believe the day is joyous as Eurydice and Orpheus are to be wed. There is little polyphony, which can be distracting. When the few choral works or polyphonic textures are used, it is generally to emphasize the climax or the overall emotion of a scene. Monteverdi uses polyphonic texture and multiple voices at the end of Act II with “Ahi, caso acerbo,” which means “Ah bitter chance.” This piece is discussing the cruel fate of Eurydice and Orpheus, and to aid the climax of the story, Monteverdi adds multiple voices. Another way Monteverdi’s work embodies the philosophy of humanism and persuades his audience is by highlighting emotion in the text through instrumentation. Monteverdi’s mixture of different instruments accompanying the singers in Orfeo is the first time this variety was seen. For example, in Peri’s opera Euridice written seven years prior to Orfeo, he simply used four instruments: the harpsichord, two large lutes, and a lira, or a bowed string instrument.34 In Orfeo, the orchestra is very large, 31 Monteverdi, 9, https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/310353. 32 Cohen, 70. 33 Mack, 2. 34 Hamm, 126.
Zieg ⦁ Monteverdi’s Orfeo 46 including instruments of different timbres, for different purposes.35 Monteverdi also specifically notated which instruments he wanted to play during the opera, which was a new concept to the Renaissance era. However, as musicologist Charles Hamm detailed, “Despite the size of the orchestra, solo singers (singing alone, or in duets or trios) are accompanied only by a basso continuo.”36 This put an emphasis on the libretto, or text of the opera, while also highlighting the emotions Monteverdi wanted the audience to feel through a rich, instrumental texture. Monteverdi was keenly aware of the effect that the orchestra and specific instrumentation could have on the emotions of the audience.37 For example, the instrumentation of the pastoral scenes include flutes, and other lighter instruments, which are known as bas, or soft instruments. This makes the pastoral scenes very light, happy, and joyful. In contrast, the scenes that take place in the underworld contain dark instrumentation, with instruments known as haut, or loud, such as the trombone.38 This adds to the stress, pain, and agony that Orpheus is feeling. There is only one time that Monteverdi uses heavy instrumentation and solo voice together, and this is in Orpheus's aria “Possente spirto.” Even then, the voice and instruments do not compete, but the instruments play in between the soloist to add extra emphasis, or lightly play underneath the soloist. The instruments also serve as an echo figure, making them secondary. The echo figure in the instrumentation serves to portray the loneliness and fear Orpheus was feeling as he entered into the underworld. All of these musical elements work together to clearly portray the emotion and human struggles involved in Orfeo. Along with the philosophy of humanism, Monteverdi adapted Orfeo as a whole from Greco-Roman drama. While ancient Greek music was not directly influential to Renaissance composers such as Monteverdi, their dramas did impact his writings.39 The ancient Greeks celebrated an art form known as the Greek tragedy, and through this, they were effective in portraying human emotions on the stage. Greek tragedies were simply a dramatic form of art and were similar to what one would consider a play today. Greek tragedies were based on the ideas of Greek mythology and Greek gods and goddesses, making the story of Orpheus who was a legendary musician in Greek mythology a prime candidate for early opera. These Greek dramas became the basis for the idea of opera as 35 Hamm, 127. 36 Hamm, 128. 37 Hamm, 130. 38 Hamm, 130. 39 Brown, 4.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 47 creators aimed to create a contemporary version of a tragedy.40 “The history of the performance of Greek tragedy is wholly intertwined with the history of opera. From Monteverdi to Wagner, opera has seen itself as the reinvention of Greek tragedy,”41 as quoted from an article by a professor of Greek tragedy. In these tragedies, there was thought to be a chorus that sang to emphasize climactic moments, or comment on the current situation, which is where Monteverdi would have drawn his use of a chorus in Orfeo.42 The ancients would use a musical chorus to comment and express the overall feeling of a scene. Multiple voices present more urgency and are able to express emotions in a more dramatic way. The use of a chorus does not directly move the plot of an opera forward but adds commentary and emphasis. Poets and librettists were aware of this ancient Greek tradition and used it as an expressive musical tool.43 Monteverdi did that in Orfeo and took musical inspiration from the ancient Greeks with the chorus commenting on the situation as seen with the choral madrigal mentioned earlier, “Ahi, caso acerbo.” There is a chorus in Acts III and IV as well, where they consist of the spirits of the underworld. They are strategically placed at the end for dramatic effect, and their anthem sets up for the entry of Plutone and Proserpina in the following scene.44 (See Example 4). Example 4: “Ahi caso acerbo,” mm. 1–445 40 Billings, 37. 41 Billings, 37. 42 Billings, 35. 43 Hamm, 116. 44 Ringer, 73. 45 Monteverdi, 64, https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/310353.
Zieg ⦁ Monteverdi’s Orfeo 48 Finally, Monteverdi drew from the pastoral drama and intermedio to create Orfeo. A pastoral drama is a play with song and music throughout.46 Burkholder, Grout and Palisca write, “In a tradition derived from ancient Greece and Rome, pastoral poems told of idyllic love in rural settings peopled by rustic youths and maidens as well as mythological figures.”47 The first pastoral drama staged was also about Orpheus, entitled Favola d’Orfeo by Angelo Poliziano.48 These became increasingly popular among courts during the Renaissance, and early opera composers took subject matter, personalities, music, and dance from these dramas. Monteverdi pulled from such plots and characters to write Orfeo. Another musical source was the intermedio, which, according to Burkholder, was a “musical interlude on a pastoral, allegorical, or mythological subject performed between acts of a play.”49 Intermedi could be very elaborate with choral music, solo songs, instrumental music, costumes, dance, and scenery. Monteverdi considered these Renaissance traditions throughout his composition of Orfeo, such as a scene depicting Orpheus entering Hades, or the joy of celebrating a wedding. The synthesis of Renaissance musical qualities with ancient GrecoRoman humanistic philosophies led to the development of the art form opera. Monteverdi utilized these ideals to create the long lasting and iconic Orfeo. This opera shaped future ones and provided a reference for future composers to use. Not only that, but Orfeo is still being reshaped and performed on the stage in modern times. In a dissertation about Monteverdi’s modernization, Gregory Louis Camp of Oxford writes, Monteverdi’s operas have continued to spread to America and the rest of Europe to the present day, when the most celebrated opera directors, conductors, and singers perform them and audiences become increasingly familiar with them. Over the past hundred years, the operas of Claudio Monteverdi have become iconic symbols of the early-music movement and have entered the canon of so-called great operas.50 46 Burkholder, 298. 47 Burkholder, 298. 48 Burkholder, 298. 49 Burkholder, 299. 50 Camp, 1.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 49 Orfeo is consistently being reproduced all around the world. Just as Monteverdi did with Orfeo, composers have taken from an earlier great work to create something new and unexpected such as the modern musical Hadestown that also explores the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Monteverdi’s opera has immensely impacted the world of music, and it is incredible to see the continued success of a musical work four hundred years later. Bibliography Billings, Joshua, Felix Budelmann, and Fiona Macintosh. Choruses, Ancient and Modern. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, Oxford Scholarship Online. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199670574.001.0001. Brown, Howard M. Music in the Renaissance, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1976. Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music, 10th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019. Camp, Gregory Louis. “Monteverdi on the Modern Stage.” Ph.D. diss., The Queen’s College, 2012. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/catalog/. Cohen, Mitchell. The Politics of Opera: A History from Monteverdi to Mozart. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2017. Hamm, Charles. Opera. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1966. Leopold, Silke. Monteverdi: Music in Transition. Translated by Anne Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Mack, Peter. “Rhetoric, Ethics and Reading in the Renaissance.” Renaissance Studies 19, no. 1 (February 2005): 1–21. doi:10.1111/j.1477-4658.2005.00083.x. Monteverdi, Claudio. L’Orfeo Favola in Musica. Vienna: Universal edition, 1930. https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/310353. Monteverdi, Claudio. L’Orfeo favola in musica. Edited by Denis Stevens. London: Novello & Company Limited, 1968. Ringer, Mark. Opera’s First Master: The Musical Dramas of Claudio Monteverdi. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press, 2006. Rogers, George L. "The Music of the Spheres: Cross-Curricular Perspectives on Music and Science." Music Educators Journal
Zieg ⦁ Monteverdi’s Orfeo 50 103, no. 1 (September 2016): 41–48. Accessed November 7, 2020. doi:10.1177/0027432116654547.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 51 Musical Offerings 12, no. 2 (2021): 51–61 ISSN 2330-8206 (print); ISSN 2167-3799 (online) © 2021, Soraya Peront, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Re-forming Music: Martin Luther’s Impact on Church Music through the Lutheran Reformation Soraya Peront Cedarville University urope during the sixteenth century can be characterized by extensive cultural progress. After the height of the Renaissance, there was a growth in economics as well as intellectual and creative life, which impacted the world’s understanding of science, logic, and art. Music in particular became much grander and began to progress away from the musical guidelines that defined the medieval period. During this time, there was also much religious reform. On October 31, 1517, a German theologian named Martin Luther publicly shared his Ninety-Five Theses, all of which condemned the Roman Catholic Church for their lack of theological consistency.1 Legend claims that Luther’s Theses were defiantly nailed to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church; whether or not it happened this way, Luther started a critical religious movement that would eventually impact all of Christianity and change church music permanently. Martin Luther’s passion for theology and advocacy for congregational singing led to permanent changes in how worship was carried out in the Lutheran Church. The Reformation was a result of Luther’s long-term frustration with the Catholic Church regarding their theological interpretations and practices. The Roman Catholic Church is the oldest religious institution in the Western world. Through the sixteenth century, it held its position in Germany and other European countries as the primary religious establishment. Though Luther agreed with the Catholic Church on some theological principles, there were practices that he believed were biblically unsound. The Catholic Church used “indulgences,” or donations to the church that could reduce one’s time spent in purgatory. 1 Leaver, “The Whole Church Sings,” 33. E
Peront ⦁ Re-forming Music 52 Luther believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bring salvation by grace through faith alone; he sought to abolish the idea that human works could earn God’s favor. Additionally, the pope during this time, Leo X, authorized the use of the revenue from these indulgences to construct St. Peter’s Basilica in 1506. Luther strongly disapproved of not only these morals, but also their approach to worship. It was generally focused on piety, being “right” with God, and the good works of Mary and the saints. Luther condemned the worship of anyone other than Jesus himself and believed worship should be approached out of devotion and humility to God, corresponding to his view of the Gospel. Luther had a strong musical background from childhood. As a boy he loved to sing, was a Kurende choirboy, and played the lute. He began writing music as he grew older, and as an adult regarded it as crucial to the education of both children and adults.2 He admired Josquin des Prez and other renowned musicians and also understood the functions of polyphony.3 Not only did Luther have a deep love and affinity for music, but he believed it played a critical role in worship. To Luther, music had the power to provide peace and lift one’s spirits.4 He firmly understood music to be part of God’s original creation and that it had been intended for human enjoyment since the beginning of time. Luther claimed that music is closely tied to theology and contains similar power to the Bible as a way to grow in a relationship with God.5 John Witte and Amy Wheeler note that music was given to people by God “for their pleasure and delight, to enrich human life. This is Luther’s commonest affirmation about music, and it is securely rooted in his doctrine of creation and in his belief in the Creator as giver.”6 For Luther, the use of music finds its supreme expression in the gospel itself, the gift of righteousness in Jesus Christ. Music, Luther believed, was so powerful that it could even protect one’s heart from evil.7 This differed from the view of music portrayed through Catholicism. The words included in the Catholic mass and their music centered on “heroic sanctity, miracles, piety, and virtuous conduct,”8 while Luther believed worship should center around humility, undeserved grace, and pure awe of God. 2 Westermeyer, 143. 3 Westermeyer, 143. 4 Willis, 46. 5 Westermeyer, 144. 6 Witte and Wheeler, 76. 7 Loewe, “Why do Lutherans Sing,” 71. 8 Brown, 24.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 53 Luther asserted that in addition to impacting individuals, music possessed the power to draw an entire congregation closer to each other and to God. He saw music in three general forms: musica mundana, the natural sounds of the world, musica humana, the sounds of humans and animals, and musica caelestis, the music of heaven itself.9 Luther was expanding upon the idea of musica caelestis when he advocated wholeheartedly for music to be used, without the traditional limits, in the church.10 Luther believed that heavenly music “offered humankind a glimpse of heaven in the world around them in the same way in which the scholastic anagogical sense of Scripture revealed something essential about heaven.”11 In this way, musica caelestis was accessible to all, and was a necessary component to worship. His advocacy was for the entire congregation to sing together; he argued that every instrument, voice, and sound of praise should be raised to God joyfully.12 Not only was music itself powerful, but when paired with a scriptural or scripturally inspired text, Luther believed it to have extraordinary power to cause the human heart to respond to the words being sung.13 In publishing his Ninety-Five Theses, Luther addressed all the theological issues he saw in the Catholic Church. The very first thesis reads, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent,’ he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.”14 This statement in turn “catapulted the Reformation of the church beyond the point of no return, but also with his first thesis he indirectly yet profoundly redefined (or, perhaps better, reclaimed) the role of music in the church.”15 Rather than worship being a ritualistic act, Luther argued it must come from a posture of humility, repentance, and the understanding that sinners cannot be saved aside from the grace of God. This led him to write new texts for preexisting melodies and compose new hymns which corresponded with this reformed ideology. The introduction of this grace-based theology led to the birth of the Protestant church. The denomination that adopted Luther’s music and closely followed his theology has come to be known as the Lutheran Church, though Luther himself never chose the term. He 9 Loewe, “Musica est optimum,” 583. 10 Grew, 67. 11 Loewe, “Musica est optimum,” 588. 12 Witte and Wheeler, 77. 13 Witte and Wheeler, 73. 14 Luther, 23. 15 Van Neste and Garrett, 137.
Peront ⦁ Re-forming Music 54 advocated for this denomination to be called the “Evangelical church,” preferring his name to be unaffiliated; nevertheless, over time, the term “Evangelical Lutheran Church” became standardized. This denomination differed from the Catholic Church in both theology and church practice. Furthermore, this movement separated Luther from his contemporary, Jean Calvin, who led the Reformation in France beginning around 1536, a few decades after Luther did in Germany. Though Luther and Calvin agreed on the theological basis of the Reformation, they differed greatly in their beliefs regarding the methods and content of congregational worship. Both men contributed greatly to church music in creating new melodies. Luther expanded upon counterpoint and polyphony, but Calvin denied any beneficial qualities of these methods. Calvin considered anything other than monophony to be unholy or improper.16 He believed that polyphony was a distraction in worship; the contrasting melodic lines blurred the lyrics, which made it, in his opinion, a less worthy method of praise. On the other hand, Luther argued that counterpoint was remarkable; he was fascinated by the intertwining of voices, singing independent lines simultaneously.17 For Calvin, music had to be directly tied to biblical texts,18 while Luther wrote many of his own original chorales simply inspired by the Scriptures. This also differed from the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. In “Catholic and Calvinist thought alike, religious song was primarily a human activity intended to satisfy a debt of worship, whether due to the saints or to God himself….For Lutherans, the hymns were a form of God’s Word, through which God himself was active to strengthen and comfort his people in faith.”19 While all of these groups saw worship as a way of communicating with God, the Calvinists saw any music that was not directly scriptural as being sensuous and unfit for worship.20 Luther, however, saw the power of all music to be genuine and applicable to church worship in every way. Furthermore, he believed that denying oneself of the enjoyment of music is to blatantly reject a gift that God has given to mankind.21 16 Westermeyer, 159. 17 Witte and Wheeler, 76. 18 Witte and Wheeler, 80. 19 Brown, 24. 20 Tarry, 356. 21 Tarry, 357.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 55 The Lutheran Church also held different theological beliefs than the Catholic Church. Luther’s primary concern about Catholicism was their belief in “indulgences.” Luther realized that this “preaching was not leading to a reformation of lives and communities but was rather allowing for license and depravity to proceed unchecked.”22 Lutherans firmly believed that the central message of the Bible should be the center of their theology: “Human beings can’t get right with God by anything they do, by any human merit or meritorious acts at all; God justifies us by grace alone through faith.”23 This was a blatant stance against the Roman Catholic Church, which preached that good works and indulgences could improve one’s eternity. Along with their view of God’s goodness and saving grace, Lutherans believed creation to be an important gift and considered worship a way to engage with it.24 The foundation of Luther’s beliefs was that music is the most natural form of worship because it can carry words and be used as a form of praise.25 Not only was worship through music a way to connect with God, but it helped to foster congregational strength and unity.26 This was accomplished both by providing a way to endure hard times and increasing boldness to share the Gospel with others. As a result, Lutheran Churches favored music of all kinds due to its power in both drawing the congregation together in fellowship and pointing them to Christ. The beliefs that Lutherans held regarding musical worship closely affected the routines they quickly adopted in their Sunday services. Martin Luther himself did not oversee or manage every Evangelical church; he believed that the new church should not be limited by strict rules. As a result, he left Lutheran Churches free to borrow from other liturgies, maintain the habits of the Latin mass, or create their own new liturgy as they felt led.27 In a Lutheran service, the “congregational chorales or hymns were mostly sung without instrumental accompaniment, by the congregation in unison, or occasionally by the choir with simple polyphonic harmonization.”28 Even from the beginning of the Reformation between 1517 and 1524, the use of wind instruments with chorale motets or along with choral music was 22 Van Neste and Garrett, 57. 23 Westermeyer, 141. 24 Witte and Wheeler, 77. 25 Westermeyer, 145. 26 Van Neste and Garrett, 143. 27 Dowley, 87. 28 Dowley, 89.
Peront ⦁ Re-forming Music 56 encouraged in the Lutheran Church.29 This was vastly more inclusive and musically open-minded than the Calvinist church was at the time. In fact, even as Catholics and Protestants disagreed on the appropriate use of music in church, not all Protestants agreed on guidelines surrounding music even within their own churches.30 In many ways, the visible disagreement over church music in the sixteenth century is closely related to the “worship wars” that are still present in churches today; though Lutheran Churches all supported the use of music as worship, “heated and polarized disputes emerged concerning the relation of music to the cosmos, music to words, music to the passions, instrumental to vocal music, the judgment of theory to the judgment of the ear.”31 Martin Luther simply led the Lutheran Reformation, but did not place restrictions or requirements on the Lutheran Church. As a result, there were various beliefs on the extent to which different types of music should be used during church services. As a whole, however, the Lutheran Church demonstrated overwhelming support for congregational worship. In fact, the “Reformers’ chief contribution to church music comes from the legacy of songs that they initiated, created, and propagated….The songs of the Reformation continue to call us as believers to an entire life of repentance. Through them, we hear the Word proclaimed and we join in the life of the church that is reformed and always reforming.”32 Prior to the Reformation, church music was sometimes limited to trained musicians and scripted music, strictly clinging to the liturgy. In the Lutheran Church, Luther advocated for the inclusion of “all believers in corporate worship.”33 Luther and his colleagues composed new songs, combining them with the familiar and traditional music of the past. These were designed to advocate the new theological thinking, centered on God’s Word and the Christian posture of humility before Him in worship. They were also designed, however, to be accessible to all members of the congregation, whether they were trained musicians or not.34 The lyrics of Luther’s songs were also woven into sermons, being preached and reflected on as well as simply being sung. This new mindset laid the foundation for 29 Dowley, 90. 30 Willis, 45. 31 Witte and Wheeler, 80. 32 Van Neste and Garrett, 144. 33 Dowley, 87–88. 34 Leaver, 81.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 57 church music for years to come, setting apart a style of Protestant worship that is distinctly different from the Catholic practice. Throughout Luther’s lifetime, music itself changed substantially. The sixteenth century brought about changes to compositional approaches and performance practices. The Reformation occurred during the Renaissance period; during this time, composers explored the relationship between language and music and the emotional effects thereof. Music became more expressive and dramatic, eventually leading to the rise of opera and the dramatic arts. Luther grew up and developed his compositional style with the influence of the Renaissance, leading to his desire for larger, more expressive, and more polyphonic writing. Three music theorists from Wittenberg also influenced music during Luther’s lifetime; Georg Rhau, Martin Agricola, and Nicolaus Listenius worked to compose new music and introduce a universal approach to music theory and education.35 Agricola published Ein kurtz deudsche Musica, or A Brief German Music, which was the first textbook that was designed for teaching music in schools.36 Luther shared this passion for music education and advocated for its standardization himself. Luther also was deeply inspired by the music of Josquin des Prez and his ability to achieve unprecedented levels of musical expression. Though this was not demonstrated in Luther’s monophonic hymns, his chorales and motets that gained popularity in the 1520’s reflected his inspiration he gained from Josquin. Luther himself played a prominent role in developing the Lutheran style of music that is still recognizable today. Much of the music he wrote was not entirely new, but was inspired by pre-existing traditions. He wrote thirty six hymns; “five are original, seven are metrical versions of psalms, eight are metrical expansions of passages of Scripture, ten are adaptations of Latin hymns, and the rest are modifications and improvements of already existing German hymns.”37 Due to his differing theological standpoint, Luther rejected the hymns that centered on the Virgin Mary, the saints, or the rituals of the mass.38 Though Luther was a conservative Reformer and sought to keep as much traditional music as possible, he also wanted to maintain his theology and found few lyrics 35 Schilling, 4. 36 Schilling, 4. 37 Grew, 72. 38 Leaver, 69.
Peront ⦁ Re-forming Music 58 that were salvageable from the Catholic mass.39 However, Luther gleaned inspiration from other sources as well, such as Gregorian chant, sacred folk songs, and the Bible itself. In order to maintain familiarity for the congregation, he drew from old tradition and melodies while adding new harmonies and lyrics. Specifically, Luther wrote in a way different than that of Jean Calvin and other Protestants; he mixed unison, polyphony, choral, instrumental, and congregational singing, even within individual hymns.40 To create ease in learning this new music, Luther adopted a mindset of complete practicality. He took over many familiar melodies, and simply changed their texts, resulting in hymns such as Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott and Mitten wir im Leben sind.41 He wrote metrical Psalms, setting Scripture itself into song form. Additionally, he followed the example set by Minnesingers and Meistersingers and wrote many of his hymns in bar form, where each stanza followed the form of AAB.42 Luther understood that bar form allowed for easier memorization, so this was his preferred form of composition, to aid the general congregation in its transition to a different musical tradition.43 He also wrote multiple sets of lyrics to the same melodies, to maintain melodic familiarity while introducing new texts; this also provided some simplicity as more music was introduced. Though Luther’s focus was more theological than musical, it is important to acknowledge his musical understanding and consideration in adapting the liturgy. Andreas Loewe insists that “Martin Luther’s appreciation for music as a practical instrument to promote the message of the Reformation by the creation of vernacular hymnody and specifically Lutheran liturgical music has dominated studies of Luther and his music. His systematic understanding of music, on the other hand, has been consistently neglected.”44 He had a strong sense of aural recognition and was able to detect and correct errors in part-writing. He also composed with consistency and accuracy, even in larger choral settings. Luther also proofread copies of manuscripts and was able to correct them, demonstrating extensive knowledge of music theory and composition.45 It is because of the importance with which Luther regarded music that he 39 Dowley, 86. 40 Westermeyer, 149. 41 Leaver, 70. 42 Westermeyer, 148. 43 Leaver, 79. 44 Loewe, “Musica est optimum,” 598. 45 Grew, 70.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 59 desired church music to be of a high quality and musically pleasing, even to the trained musician. Although Luther did not entirely overhaul church music or the liturgy in starting the Lutheran Church, his ideology helped redirect the course and purpose of worship in the Protestant church. As previously mentioned, a large portion of works attributed to Luther are based on Latin liturgical and other familiar melodies. Even chorale singing “was not new; some fifty years before Luther, Jan Hus and his Bohemian Brethren (Moravians, or Hussites) had practiced the congregational singing of hymns adapted from Gregorian melodies or popular airs.”46 While Luther was writing music for the new liturgy, other poets such as Johann Böschenstein and Heinrich von Zutphen were also composing vernacular hymns. Both Böschenstein and von Zutphen studied with Luther in Wittenberg. Though scholars cannot be certain of whether or not Luther knew these men were also writing hymns, the styles seem to reflect one another and imply that he was inspired by their writings.47 It is for reasons such as these that Luther’s “greatness lies in his establishment of the new Lutheran liturgy and in the importance he placed on music” rather than his compositions themselves.48 Additionally, his accomplishment lies in the distinctiveness that Lutheran music gained, which separated it from the Catholic Church and other Protestant churches. At the time, the Reformers considered their movement to be a failure. Luther’s main arguments in the Reformation were against the indulgences and theology of the Catholic Church. He was able to present many arguments for biblical theology and successfully founded the church that believed in salvation through grace and faith alone. However, at the time, the Catholic Church was tied closely to the government. As a result, marriages were only legal if they were carried out through the Catholic Church. Luther and his counterparts sought to change marriage laws, disagreeing with the connection between the Church and the state. This separation of the Lutheran Church from the Catholic Church also resulted in a separation from the Lutheran Church and the law; because of this, marriages were illegitimate, and children produced by Lutheran marriages were considered to have been born out of wedlock. Ultimately, the Reformation did not achieve all the Reformers hoped that it would, 46 Dowley, 88. 47 Leaver, 72–73. 48 Dowley, 90.
Peront ⦁ Re-forming Music 60 especially in regard to legal separation of the Catholic Church and state.49 From a musical perspective, however, Luther’s impact on the church was incredibly successful. Eva Mary Grew writes, “Luther himself wrote thirty-six hymns.” 50 Not only was the impact of these chorales notable in the sixteenth century Protestant church, but it can still be observed today. The chorales that Luther established within the church altered congregational singing and ultimately inspired both the choral and instrumental works of composers for generations to come.51 These chorales were arguably the most influential component of the entire Reformation, remaining in importance even today.52 For example, Johann Sebastian Bach’s music has been analyzed and determined that it is rooted in the musical philosophy founded by Luther. Witte and Wheeler assert that a significant portion of his music “bears witness to an imagination of music’s relation to language, set within a generous vision of the created world under God, that resonates strongly with what we have discerned, albeit in a fragmentary way, in Luther.”53 Luther is also remembered for his ability to rework what was traditional and loved in church music without replacing it with the new entirely. His intention was never to fully recreate music as they knew it in the sixteenth century, but he advocated for its new purposes and, in doing so, drew attention to the possibilities that it held.54 It is clearly too broad to assume that all music today stems from the Lutheran chorales, but Grew argues that most of the music that is popular today was born from sources which Lutheran chorales explored and deemed worthy of inspiration.55 Not only did the Lutheran Reformation bring forth new compositional techniques in church music, but set Protestant worship apart from that of the Catholic Church by defining the biblical purpose of worship. Martin Luther’s music may not have been entirely new or revolutionary, but his advocacy for the role of music as worship permanently affected how music was carried out in the church. 49 Witte, 293. 50 Grew, 72. 51 Van Neste and Garrett, 145. 52 Dowley, 88. 53 Witte and Wheeler, 81. 54 Leaver, 80. 55 Grew, 71.
Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 61 Bibliography Brown, Christopher Boyd. Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2005. Dowley, Tim. Christian Music: A Global History. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2011. Grew, Eva Mary. “Martin Luther and Music.” Music & Letters 19, no. 1 (January 1938): 67–78, accessed September 14, 2020, https://www.jstor.org/stable/727986. Leaver, Robin A. The Whole Church Sings: Congregational Singing in Luther’s Wittenberg. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017. Loewe, J. Andreas. “‘Musica est optimum’: Martin Luther’s Theory of Music.” Music & Letters 94, no. 4 (November 2013): 573–605, accessed September 14, 2020, http://www.jstor.com/stable/24547377. ———. “Why do Lutherans Sing? Lutherans, Music, and the Gospel in the First Century of the Reformation.” Church History 82, no. 1 (March 2013): 69–89, accessed September 14, 2020, https://jstor.org/stable/23358906. Luther, Martin. “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.” In Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, ed. Stephen J. Nichols, 22–47. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2002. Van Neste, Ray, and J. Michael Garrett, eds. Reformation 500. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2016. Schilling, Johannes. “Martin Luther and the Arts: Music, Poetry, and Hymns.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford University Press, 2021. Article published March 29, 2017, accessed September 14, 2020, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.293. Tarry, Joe E. “Music in the Educational Philosophy of Martin Luther.” Journal of Research in Music Education 21, no. 4 (Winter 1973): 355–365, accessed September 14, 2020, http://www.jstor.com/stable/3344909. Westermeyer, Paul. Te Deum: The Church and Music. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 1998. Witte, John, Jr. “The Reformation of Marriage Law in Martin Luther’s Germany: Its Significance Then and Now.” Journal of Law and Religion 4, no. 2 (1987): 293–351, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1051003.
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