Innumerable threads run from the sixteenth century chorale, the true artistic weapon of rising Protestantism, to the older German song. To show, for instance, similarities between some of the chorale melodies as they appear in the first hymnals of the Lutheran school and the tunes of old German folk songs or, for that matter, of art songs of the minnesingers (such as Neithart or Wizlav), would be an easy task. Yet we shall avoid delving into such melodic resemblances, for it is our endeavor to survey the development of the Lutheran chorale in a panoramic fashion, and here, as in general, we shall have to renounce details if we want to cover the territory even fairly well.

The relationship of the Crusader hymns to the Lutheran chorale is so close that the quotation of just two examples may suffice to clarify it. The famous "Christ ist erstanden," said to be a Latin melody of about 1100, is without any doubt the offspring of the old Victimae Paschali Laudes, the Easter sequence of Wipo. The number of occasions in which it was sung, in many variants, is great. It was popular in Nuremberg at least since 1424, when it was sung each time the Reich jewelry was displayed. It was a soldiers’ song heard in the battle of Tannenberg, and it is said to have been sung by German communities when the Bishop of Verona visited them. In the fifteenth century it appears in manifold contrapuntal versions, while today it is, of course, mainly known as a Protestant hymn in the version appearing in such a hymnbook as the first Catholic one by Michael Vehe (1537). However, at the same time, it was also used in a satirical manner, with a considerably changed text. "Christ lag in Todesbanden" ultimately is traceable to its original melody.

In the pilgrim’s chant "In Gottes Namen fahren wir" we have our second lucid example of the relationship of old spiritual folk songs to Lutheran music. Originally it was sung by men traveling to the Holy Land. In 1200 the chant had, instead of the regular stanzas in which it is known today, irregular structure—a so-called leich of four strophes of unequal length. In the fifteenth century it occurs in considerably simplified form as cantus firmus of polyphonic compositions and appears as a regular chorale of 12 strophes in the Vehe hymnal, where it is listed as a prayer to be chanted in the procession. From the irregular leich there has now developed a chant, choralelike in its rhythmic regularity.

Another, no less important source of influence on the Lutheran chorale is the Latin hymn which we find in German variants and translations as early as in the eighth century. By 1200 the practice of varying melodies of originally Latin sequences, particularly in order to make them more suitable for substituted German lyrics of such chants, is popular. In Baeumker’s well-known work on the German Catholic church hymn we gain an excellent view of the evolution of the hymn in the German church prior to Martin Luther. In the fifteenth century many Latin sequences had been translated into German, and many others had found imitation in German folk songs. Sebastian Brant, the well-known poet, edited, in 1501, twenty-one church songs which represent Germanized versions of his prayer collection called Ortulus Animae. These Latin hymns had been printed for the first time three years prior to the publication of the German versions. The well known "Ach du armer Judas" belongs in this chapter. The version of an old Latin sequence which appears long before the Reformation, it was, in Luther’s period, a well-known song which Luther himself, in 1541, quoted in his writing against the Duke of Brunswick. He called the song: "Ach du arger Heintze," the name being the apostrophe of the Duke Heinrich. The Catholics later sang it in application to Zwingli. As Lutheran hymn it lives under the name "O wir armen Suender."

In former times it seems to have been believed that the spiritual folk song of the Germans was in the best case tolerated in the pre-Reformation service. But the more we study the development of the old German folk song in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the more we will recognize that some of these spiritual songs were even officially accredited. It may be pure conjecture that, for instance, occasional elaborations of the congregational Kyrie are the nucleus of folk song. If so, it would mean that the congregation, originally but responding to either the priest or the ministerial choir and singing one or two words, gradually took the liberty of singing Leise, which later were officially admitted and in some cases might even have replaced the sequences. Be that as it may, we hear that in Breslau in 1447 both the Credo and "Wir glauben all’" were heard (this incidentally is neither the first nor the second tune found in the Lutheran Hymnal but an older composition penned by one Nicolaus von Kosel). The German Agnus, "Lamm Gottes unschuldig," is another of such creations of the pre-Lutheran period. As there are other officially recognized chorales before the Reformation, in clarifying Luther’s contribution it is important to emphasize that he did not institute, for example, the German Sanctus, but that he had this chorale generally replace the Latin Sanctus. In other words; where there had been juxtapositions of the Latin and the German chant, the singing of the old liturgical text was terminated. Yet even with respect to such substitutions it should be kept in mind that Luther was but to inaugurate such practices. The singing of congregational hymns on a large scale becomes a more general procedure only in the late sixteenth century. For that much is certain, Luther did not depart from liturgical procedures to the extent to which one believed him to have done so in former times.

The relation of the political and historical ballads of the Middle Ages with the chorale is another important factor in tracing the latter’s history. Scholars specializing in German folk lore, such as Franz, Magnus, Boehme, in fact had to reconstruct the original melodic contours of some old ballads from so-called parodies, ecclesiastical versions, in which they were preserved in compositions of later times. An excellent example is given in the Musae Sioniae of Michael Praetorius. In his collection of 1616 we find a chorale called "O Reicher Gott im Throne." The melody originally belongs to a political ballad known as the Ton von Toll, narrating the conquest, in 1479, of Dole. It seems that the original could not be restored, but in said collection of Praetorius the folklorists found at least a general outline of the secular melody. The best example of politico-historical ballad on the one side, hymn tune on the other, is Luther’s "Martyrs of Brussels." That Luther is the author of its words is now proved. That he is the author also of its melody seems fairly certain, particularly since it shows the kind of anticipations characteristic of Luther’s other tunes. While this Luther jewel today is unfortunately forgotten, it is one of the finest contributions to the chorale (applying the term in the broadest sense of the word) and should be resurrected. How popular it was in Luther’s own time is evidenced by the fact that while the main part of the song was created in 1523, two verses were added later on and took the populace by storm.

Turning from this brief summary of the historical foundations of the chorale to that of its artistic basis, it must be stated again that the chorale is so largely identical with the old German folk song that with regard to rhythm, tonality, and structure all that can be said about the old folk song can be applied to the chorale prior to and including Luther’s time.

Its charm, in artistic respect, lies in its steady wavering between the modes on the one side and major and minor tonality on the other. In most of the old spiritual folk songs the consciousness of the leading tone is a fact. As regards the variety of the modes used, it is to be noted that three are more customary than the others: the Phrygian as the only one of the original authentic church modes; for the others are the Ionian and Aeolian, or major and minor, which were officially introduced into music theory only after Luther (appearing as they do in 1547 in the Dodekachordon of Glarean). Instead of going into details of the tonality problem, I shall select only one song in order to clarify this artistic peculiarity of the mixture of modal and tonal cadences. This song is "Die Sonn’, die ist verblichen." In the version which we hear the melody is in G Dorian with the first cadence D to A, and the second B flat to A. The following cadences are A to G, E to D, and A to G; and the last two cadences are on F and on G. Here the analyst may waver between an interpretation of the cadences from a merely melodic viewpoint and one that takes into consideration the dormant, but inherent harmonic issue. The version of the cantus firmus is taken from a composition of Stephan Zierler, published in Forster’s collection and as a chorale text known by "Wacht auf, ihr Christen alle, seid nuechtern alle Zeit."

The rhythmic and metrical problems of the chorale are as complex as its sources are manifold. If we consider that the literature of the minstrels, folk dancing, Renaissance tendencies, Humanistic movement, Meistersang (in the literature of which verse lines are counted by long and short syllables) and polyphonic-figurated music as cultivated in the Flemish schools—that all had their influence on the old folk song and, through it, on the Lutheran chorale—we understand why the last word on its metrical problems has not yet been spoken and, in all probability, never will be spoken. Additional complicating circumstance is that these types of music are handed down to us in different notations, ranging from notation in letters of the alphabet to the Gothic chorale notation. Furthermore, the texts, as we already have seen, have undergone changes which influenced the rhythmic flow of old melodies that often had to be varied to suit new lyrics. Finally, many chorale melodies, in fact, most of them, are primarily known from their use as cantus firmi in polyphonic compositions. In order to function as bearers of the musical thought of such polyphonic compositions, they had to undergo changes. The problem of isometric versus polymetric singing advocated by many hymnologists will be discussed in connection with Luther’s organization of congregational singing.

As regards the structure of these songs, it is probably best that within the course of a general discussion such as this we had best confine ourselves to admiring its intricacies rather than trying to crystallize distinctly different patterns of formal organization. Most verse lines have four major accents, but two and eight accents can also be found, and in rare instances we find verse lines of even six major accents. Such steadily changing quantity of syllables makes polymetrical composing natural. Rests, however, frequently change the metrical and formal organization of old chorales. They are by no means always indicated. For example, Luther’s 128 Psalm makes us recognize that the even isometric version (which seems to be the desirable one today) was even monotonous to the chorale composer. In some chorales the elaboration of certain motives and a planned organization of the thematic thought can be discerned, but frequently these motives and themes appear, as regards the rhythmic issue, with variations; in other words, while the correspondence of pitches in such cases is evident, their rhythmic organization is free. There can be little doubt that these chorales are polymetrical in feeling, with Luther specializing in a sort of passionate anticipation already found in his song "Martyrs of Brussels" and discernible again in his "Von der christlichen Kirche."

In my paper "Influence of Gregorian Chant on Protestant Hymnology of the Reformation Period" printed in the volume of Proceedings of the M. T. N. A, Cincinnati, 1944, I stressed the fact that although Luther curtailed the role of the soloist-celebrant and of the ministerial choir of the old Church in order to emphasize congregational singing, he by no means abolished altar singing, and we hear of the selection of the musically best trained singers for motet choirs. The use of the chorale in the service is not synonymous with a destruction of the liturgical order. Luther was much friendlier toward musical traditions of the Catholic Church than were the Calvinists. Josquin was called by Luther "the master of the notes," and "Aus tiefer Not," Luther’s Phrygian tonus, first found in the Wittenberg hymnal, is almost literally molded after Josquin’s "Petre, tu Pastor Omnium." Luther sang Heinrich Isaac, Pierre de la Rue, and Ludwig Senfl because he enjoyed five- and six-part polyphony in addition to the, as a rule, simpler contexts of chorales. Moreover, the institution of lay choirs for the purpose of obtaining a well-prepared and well-executed figurated music is one of his chief musical activities. In Luther’s own time the isometric and homorhythmic context of chorales is still the exception, and the departure from the polyphonic textures with the cantus firmus in the tenor is slow. Only at the end of the century is the cantus firmus found in the soprano, and then not in all cases and not at once. To judge the gradual transition from the polymetric polyphony to isorhythmic context dispassionately, we must again remember that congregational singing in the sixteenth century is without the support of the organ, which is used only for introduction of altar chants and at best participates in Masses and Motets. In general, the congregation, if not singing the chorales without any accompaniment, was accompanied by the motet choir. Gradually the tenor part proved to be a hindrance in such procedures, and thus in 1586 Lucas Osiander publishes his chorales with cantus firmus in the soprano voice, accompanied by the homophonic lower voices. Luther, then, while instituting congregational singing, is still in closest contact with the figurated music of the old Church. Only rarely has this relationship been overemphasized, although a scholar of Baeumker’s stature wants to make Luther’s adherence to tradition so strong that he seriously questions his authorship of "Ein’ feste Burg," which he wants us to accept as a composite of Gregorian fragments. Such dependence upon the Gregorian elements indicates how thoroughly the melodist Luther was influenced by Gregorian tradition.

In instituting the liturgy, too, Luther was far from making an unwise step in his promotion of new ideas. He carefully transformed the Virgin cult into Lutheran song. This necessitated the solution of many problems of chancel chanting. How Luther proceeded can be recognized from his German Mass of 1526, in which he gives a perfect organization for Anfang, Komma, Kolan, Punkt, Frage, and Schlussformel, thus following the melodic formulae of the old accentus. A literal translation of Latin into the German would have been as inadequate an attempt as that to preserve the Gregorian original; yet he nevertheless was determined to follow tradition in the recitation of the chant. His reform ideas began with the Psalter. The 46th Psalm, the 130th, and the 128th Psalm, about which we spoke before, are good examples.

With respect to creativity, Luther’s addition of new stanzas to chants of the pre-Reformation period should be mentioned. Thus, for instance, in "Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice" he added the stanza so reminiscent of "A Mighty Fortress" (I quote in the English translation in the Lutheran Hymnal):

To me He spake: Hold fast to Me,
I am thy Rock and Castle;
Thy Ransom I Myself will be,
For thee I strive and wrestle;
For I am with thee, I am thine,
And evermore thou shalt be Mine;
The Foe shall not divide us.

Such infusion of new ideas, mainly autobiographical, goes hand in hand with his re-creating melodies.

The problem of the isometric basis of cantus firmus tenors may now be shown in "Ein’ feste Burg" in the version of Walther’s hymnbook. We find augmented and diminished upbeats, anticipations, unusual subdivisions of the meter, missing rests, ornamentation and portamenti as well as mordents, genuine change of meter, and transposed motives. The chorales of the sixteenth century demonstrate such an unbelievable variety of rhythmic-syllabic patterns that isometric singing seems to deprive us of one of the very elements which make them artistic. Yet such complicated rhythmic structures are frequently just a result of the fact that they were taken out of polyphonic settings, as pointed out before, and removed from them they do not always make sense. Even the oldest sources in which our chorales appear in polymetrical versions are not always the first authentic records of their melodies. Furthermore, congregations did not always sing the tunes according to such polymetrical notation. Why was there in the seventeenth century the change to isometric singing? Because disappointed musicians succumbed to the likings of congregations? Perhaps. Or was it because they now in writing acknowledged a situation which, in reality, had existed for a long period? Perhaps. Is it possible that the polyrhythmic cantus firmus can be a transformation of an originally isometric tune and that the isometric reading of polyrhythmic chorales in certain cases represents a return to original time values? Possibly. These and other questions are primarily of historical importance; yet with respect to our actual singing of chorales today I think that we should not insist on polymetric readings (as some German scholars do). We in America are just becoming aware of the best musical traditions of the Lutheran Church. Why should we deter from singing good hymns those who love them in their versions; why should we enforce upon congregations rhythmic orders for which there is nowadays apparently little inclination? The baroque composers, and mainly Bach, so to speak, have sanctioned the folklike isometric versions of Luther’s hymns; why not say: What was good enough for Bach is good enough for us?

The echo of Luther’s creativity is found in the diligence and the talent of Johann Walther. Among those chorales which carried on the true Lutheran spirit his "Herzlich tut mich erfreuen" must be mentioned. Sebald Heyden contributed "O Mensch, bewein dein’ Suende gross" and Lazarus Spengler "Durch Adams Fall." Many of the early chorale lyrics are from the pens of theologians, many of their tunes by unknown authors. The greatest poet composer of the Lutheran school is perhaps Nikolaus Herman, with his "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen allzugleich" and with his "Wenn mein Stuendlein vorhanden ist." It is impossible to go into the details of the contributions of Luther’s friend Ludwig Senfl, who, with Bruck, Dietrich, Stoltzer, is represented, for instance, in George Rhau’s New German Sacred Songs for the Public Schools, Wittenberg, 1544, where we also find Mahu’s marvelous polyphonic arrangement of Luther’s "Ein’ feste Burg." Sometimes the same chorale tunes are used for various polyphonic compositions and enable the musicologist to compare compositional-stylistic issues such as that of homophonic-chordlike structure and polyphonic-imitative design. Lucas Osiander’s name has already been mentioned with respect to the gradual change which took place in favor of the former. Similar ideas were fostered in the hymnbooks of Raselius, 1588, and the Thomas Cantor Seth Calvisius had such a success with his four-part hymns of 1596 that his work could be published in five editions up to 1622. Johann Eccard, with 55 songs, was no less successful. He, and later Hassler, frequently presented two arrangements of a chorale, one more polyphonic, the other more simple, suitable for organists, homophonic. Similarly, Vulpius, in 1604, published variants of his chorale arrangements. With Crueger’s "Praxis Pietatis Melica" the isometric versions—in 1647—definitely seem to have won the battle.

Of considerable importance for the evolution of music as it presents itself to the student of the larger forms of Protestant Church music is the fact that the chorale gave impetus to motets, cantatas, Passions, and vocal concerti. Scheidt’s Cantiones for Eight Voices may be mentioned as representative of a great number of compositions of Baroque composers. The master of Halle is one of the three great "S’s" of the seventeenth century, the others being Schein and Schuetz. Just as plainly as he expressed his spirit in vocal music, he also combined, in many examples of organ composition, his technique of variation and coloration, acquired under the influence of Sweelinck, with the chorale. The Nuremberg organist Johann Pachelbel in the Musikalische Sterbensgedanken, four series of variations prompted by the death of his family in 1683, as well as in his Choraele zum Praeambulieren, gives full play to his specialty, contrapuntal diminution. He consolidates the chorale’s position also in the home by means of piano music. For in the last-named collection we find keyboard music which uses the chorale in distinctly pianistic elaboration. Most of the time Pachelbel’s chorale cantus firmus appears in broad note values without any alteration of the original tracts. The results of his contrapuntal technique are facile fughettes, which influence Bach not only in his chorale paraphrases but in his introductory choruses for the longer cantatas. Another chorale enthusiast, of even stronger influence on Bach, was the Lueneburg organist Georg Boehm, whose indulgence in trills, mordents and coloraturas may not always produce as grandiose and convincing a music as that of Reinken ("An Wasserfluessen Babylon") or of Luebeck, but who undoubtedly must be considered harmonically as a vanguard composer of the first order.

Buxtehude, greatest Baroque organist prior to Bach, and master of the organ at the Marienkirche of Lueneburg, is at the same time the greatest virtuoso in the exploitation of chorale tunes. This Swedish master in the composition of various stanzas of the chorale seeks ever new vistas of expression interpreting the changing moods of the lyrics. His style is free and daring in comparison with the static and well-balanced chorale paraphrases of Pachelbel.

For the seventeenth century chorale-born vocal music the name of Heinrich Schuetz has only recently been revealed in its full significance. Today his relationship to the Lutheran Church and music, and therefore the mental climate of his work, is no less doubtful than that of Walther, Eccard, Bach, or Brahms. Alfred Einstein’s evaluation (Baerenreiter Verlag, 1928) must definitely be rectified: "Keine der beinahe hundert Weisen, so koestlich sie zum Teil in Melodie and harmonischer Einkleidung sind, ist zum Choral geworden. Und keine groessere Schaetzung hat er fuer den ueberkommenen Choral uebrig."

In reality, in the four-part arrangement which Schuetz made of the Psalter of the Leipzig minister Cornelius Becker we find twelve of the oldest chorales, while his new tunes are thoroughly dictated by the love of the old which he did not want to abuse for Psalm paraphrases and melodies unless they were fitted. In more than two thirds of all chorale utilizations we find Schuetz close to the old hymn, which, in itself, is a good indication of his fidelity to Luther. It is best exhibited in his Deus nosier Refugium. Still in my memory linger the Schuetz festivals of Celle, 1929, and of Kassel, 1930, in which it was clarified that this master found in the chorale treasury of the Lutheran Church one of the strongest sources of his musicianship. He is important to no less a degree than Schein, Scheidt, Altenburg (Wolfenbuettel), Hammerschmidt (Zittau), Johann Kuhnau, Bach’s forerunner at St. Thomas of Leipzig, and the Handel teacher Wilhelm Zachow of Halle.

While the Lutheran chorale thus became the source of infinite inspiration long after the cantus firmus period had vanished and thanks to new methods and devices, including the art of concertare, variation, and ostinato fantasy, the history of chorale composition after Luther, Speratus, Eber, and Nikolaus Herman changes under the influence of the Thirty Years’ War. Johann Heermann’s "O Gott, du frommer Gott" (1630), Stegmann’s "Ach bleib mit deiner Gnade," and Martin Rinckart’s "Nun danket alle Gott" are indicative of Baroque "Ich"-lyricism, through which most chorales lose their monumental-omnivalent, universal character. They become personal utterance. Musically the old choraliter context now approaches the monodic aria with basso continuo. A further simplification is achieved with departure from coloration as the tendency toward symmetry becomes evident in Paul Fleming’s "In allen meinen Taten," Heinrich Albert’s "Gott des Himmels und der Erden," and Simon Dach’s "Ich bin ja, Herr, in deiner Macht."

Johann Rist, the pastor of Wedel on the Elbe, had the talent of organization and sufficient feeling for quality to commission musical settings of his poems from the true talents of his time: Johann Schop ("O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort," "Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist"), Selle, Hammerschmidt, and Staden. Close second in quality runs "Wer nur den lieben Gott laesst walten" by Georg Neumark, frequently listed as a contribution to the Rist School of Hamburg, whereas Berlin made history by the unique combination of Paul Gerhardt and Johann Crueger (1598–1662). In 1640 Crueger wrote "Herzliebster Jesu," 1647 "Nun danket aIle Gott." To other authors’ lyrics Crueger wrote "Jesu, meine Zuversicht" and "Schmuecke dich, o liebe Seele." A goodly number of the songs of Gerhardt and Crueger became popular. Other names of poets and composers could be mentioned here, but it will suffice to state that we have at our disposal about 10,000 chorales, all authored in the seventeenth century alone. Examining them, we will find a conspicuous transition to isometric singing which, in part at least, is due to the increased use of the organ as an accompaniment, a practice which leaves its mark on almost all contributions of the later Baroque.

We have already taken too much time to go into detailed discussion of Bach’s utilization of the chorale now, as we had originally planned. I believe Mr. Bruening fortunately has discussed the chorale preludes of Bach. A great deal could be said about his fantasies and manifold chorale variations; it could be shown how in each instance Bach took certain stylistic ideas from his forerunners but molded them into a musical idiom of his own. All the older chorales which Bach utilized are listed, according to lyricists and composers, in Schweitzer’s biography, pages 6 to 21. When Bach, after the death of his wife Maria Barbara in 1720, went to Hamburg to hear Johann Adam Reinken play, Reinken, then almost 100 years old, heard him extemporize for two hours in the Katharinenkirche. Bach concluded his playing with a gigantic improvisation on Reinken’s chorale "An Wasserfluessen Babylon." But chorales play a vital role even at a much earlier date of his life. The piano book which the master wrote for his nine-year-old son Wilhelm Friedemann proves that he wanted the chorale to have the same place in the musical education of the children of his generation as it had had in his own.

Inasmuch as the larger cantatas are the most direct religious expression of Bach, it is only natural that many of them should stem from the chorale. This holds true for cantatas of all periods of his life, yet to my way of thinking, of the about thirty-five chorales which have inspired Bach to his monumental cyclical forms those which influenced some of his last works show the individuality of his creativeness in the most glorious light: "Aus tiefer Not," "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland," and "Wie schoen leucht’t uns der Morgenstern." Not very well known, they belong to Bach’s autumnal period and exhibit his mastery of old and new forms, combining the traditions of Protestant Church music with the accomplishments of the secular music of the Italians, with such progressive devices as are inherent in the Italian opera and instrumental music of the middle of the seventeenth century. Moreover, these chorale cantatas excel in the juxtaposition of hymnic melodies, which breathe the spirit of folklore, and the individual expressiveness of the Baroque artist.

Of the 240 melodies of Bach’s Choralbuch, all with basso continuo, but few have come down to us. The 29 which the master contributed to Schemelli’s hymnal are well known, particularly "Come, Sweet Death." The 371 four-part chorale harmonizations (the first part edited by C. P. E. Bach in 1765, the second by Kirnberger) are nowadays used in schools everywhere. Musically speaking, nothing better can be found; yet it is to be regretted that in the publications of these harmonizations we find no lyrics, which alone can furnish full explanation of the musical proceedings. We need an edition with lyrics badly. Despite this deficiency, however, the students realize the significance of the chorale for all of Bach’s work and see its place in the cantatas, preserved and lost, and in the Passions.

In the Classical and Romantic epochs this significance decreased, and already Bach’s own sons cared less for chorale tradition than did Johann Sebastian. The church choirs in Germany degenerated, musical language underwent tremendous stylistic changes, and the fact that little of Bach’s work was printed which could have kept his kinship to the chorale alive was another reason for at least another indication of its gradual decay. Pietistic emotionalism was replaced by cold rationalization, and as the Church itself, so also its music was subjected to the hyperaesthetic criticism of literary connoisseurs. They considered the church cantata an antiquated branch of music. Even Klopstock’s courageous pioneering for reinstating it achieved little. The interest of organists, too, ran into different directions, directions which were inimical to Bach’s thoroughly poetic way of musically interpreting the stanzas of a chorale. Thus the organ chorale degenerated, to come back to the consciousness of most organists, if timidly, at the beginning of our century.

The revival of the chorale is the foremost task of the church musician today, be he conductor, singer, or organist. Nothing is as indicative of Lutheran spirit in music as the chorale tune. Yet the musicians alone will scarcely achieve its sorely needed renascence. A dynamic revival on a large scale of the chorale, as of all Protestant music, demands the support of the Lutheran ministers. From their viewpoint, too, such a revival can be but a must. To make it reality, the Lutheran Church will have to take the initiative. This, I think, can be done by publishing vocal and instrumental music of such eras as derived their strength from the chorale. New editions of some of this old music are extant, to be sure, but they are as yet scarce, and they are not always as scholarly as would be desirable. Hardly less necessary is the publication of books and monographs dealing with the music under discussion, so as to make the professional church musician as well as congregations at large realize the necessity for its cultivation. A magazine which would contribute to opening ways of understanding such music, which is not always easily accessible to the churchgoer of today, would be of inestimable value. Thus far we have barely tapped the possibilities of making Lutheran congregations responsive to the greatest music the Lutheran Church has to offer. The Lutheran Hymnal, authorized by the synods constituting the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, was a glorious beginning, even though its edition was in part deficient (as I have pointed out in my review of it). But it was a beginning which warrants an all-out concentrated effort. The country for such a concentrated effort in behalf of Lutheran music is America, and the time for such an effort is—now!!!

From The Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church, Volume I (Valparaiso, Ind.: Valparaiso University, 1945). Reprinted by permission of Valparaiso University.

For personal use only.