We have this year invited you to meet with us in the city of Sheboygan. Why did we choose Sheboygan—a comparatively small city—located at some considerable distance from Valparaiso? Why not some prominent musical center like Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, or New York? Why not at Eastman, at Westminister, or some other well-known and famous establishment?

Before answering this question permit me to review briefly the history of our Conference, which is now meeting for the third time and which has become known as the Valparaiso Church Music Seminar.

What did we have in mind when three years ago we called together a number of our organists and choirmasters for a Seminar on Church Music? Why did we hold our first meeting at Valparaiso University?

Our Valparaiso University is still in the pioneer stage in its endeavor to perpetuate a great heritage pronounced by its founders twenty years ago. It was, however, the ideal spot for the founding of an institution that would have for its prime objective the preservation of the Church’s musical heritage—and this in spite of the fact that after twenty years of its existence as a Lutheran University it enjoyed not even the most primitive musical equipment as to organs, church music library, and so forth.

It is remarkable that upon a mere announcement of the objective, forty-two men, chosen more or less at random, accepted our invitation and gathered on our campus. These men, already over-worked in the service of the Church, yet found it worth while to face the challenge of our program. This first Seminar proceeded along the lines of any orthodox Seminar. It presented—perhaps for the first time in the history of our Church—a recognized authority in the field of musical history and philosophy, Dr. Hans Rosenwald, a graduate of Heidelberg University, for many years prominent in the musical life on the European continent and, at present, Dean of the Chicago Musical College and Editor of the Music News. In his scholarly discourse Dr. Rosenwald indicated that the Lutheran Church had a heritage which is not only an expression of the Lutheran confession of faith, and its handmaiden, but also from a musical standpoint represents the highest standard in the field of music.

Dr. Rosenwald, who came from the Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Germany and knew very little about our Synod, its history, and its mission, recognized the reason for our Church Music Seminar and in his lecture pointed out to us our special duty to recover a lost treasure and make it available to the church at large. But this ideal had already been recognized by a few men in our camp who had devoted themselves in true service—aside from their specific tasks as teachers—to the presentation of much useful and practical information toward clarifying the picture envisioned by Dr. Rosenwald and countless other authorities in the field of sacred music. Our own Professor Buszin, after many years of research and practical experience, made a worth-while contribution to this first Seminar. Mr. Bruening made an exhaustive study of the organ literature. Dr. Wente forcefully drew our attention to some hundreds of organists and choirmasters, faithfully serving the cause of the Gospel in isolated spots throughout our country, and he pleaded with us to aid them towards a greater knowledge and efficiency to preserve a peculiarly Lutheran handmaiden of the Gospel. All present in their manner gave support to this first groping venture. A man who never associated otherwise with organized movements, but carried on alone, here and in Europe, a pioneer attempt towards this idea, saw in this first Seminar a tremendous turn in the right direction for the Church and its peculiar treasure. After his unique experience in the pursuit of this idea and the opportunity to study it in large European and small local settings, he felt that our attempt was of historic significance. I refer to Dr. Edward Rechlin—whose paths I must have crossed countless times in my travels in Europe, but whom I met for the first time six years ago—with whom I have fought in heated discussions as with no one else, but whom I have learned to know as a wise counselor and a true friend. He warned us never to depart from Bach’s great motivation, but to put all our efforts in the service of the Son of God, who came to die for us and save us—whom Bach so intimately calls: "Mein Jesulein!"

With the world in chaos and the atom bomb promising destruction, the second Seminar gathered last summer. Fifty men—in spirit [spite] of increased diversions, impressions, and anxieties—fifty men realized the validity of the movement and again came to Valparaiso University for another discussion of the problems of church music.

In order to explore all the various channels in the field of this particular study, a similar program was arranged. Again a leading authority in the person of Dr. Leo Schrade was engaged to address the meeting. Dr. Schrade, a man of high reputation in Europe, now Professor of Music in the Graduate School at Yale University, again brought home to us the recognized value of our heritage. In three learned essays he showed us the value of research, which is so necessary in order to make available our great heritage. Dr. Rosenwald again joined us and, approaching the problem from a different angle, emphasized the value of those treasures entrusted to our campus. A remarkable contribution by Professor Buszin on the royal priesthood of all believers brought home to us that this wonderful musical heritage had not been granted to a few either for intellectual, artistic, professional, or material exploitation, but was instead entrusted to each and every one of us as a treasure second only to the Gospel. He stressed that it was our solemn duty to bring to all, high and low, our heritage as their peculiar, personal heritage, and to assist them to an ever better enjoyment and use of the same, not only in public worship, but in their home and in their personal cultural life.

Professor Bichsel presented new materials in a practical study of the Common Service. Dr. Rechlin again emphasized the simple formula of Bach’s childlike faith, which served as a formula for all his motivation and creation.

But already, I am sure, most of us felt: Where are we going? How can we now bring this great musical heritage into the Church and make it the property of each and every one in the Church? Can we do it at Valparaiso University—where we reach only a limited number? This would be as if the Apostles had retained the teachings of their Savior for their own limited group in philosophical analogies and dissertations, academical and emotional testings. Or should we follow the example of the Apostles, go out and bring this message to those afar off, aiding them when possible, organizing this message, training the leaders, all for the final purpose of finding a channel for the spreading of the Gospel.

Where should we begin? In large cities, where merely technical apparati might afford opportunity for better technical demonstrations, or should we begin where simple people had already anticipated us long ago and in a pious effort had prepared the ground? It should have been quite logical to go to the one place where our future ministry is in training. Could we find there the proper preparation to launch this mission? My own experience showed clearly that the emphasis there was not on our heritage. I found there a participation of but a limited selected group of our future pastors, organized to give performances of very limited materials, participation in which, on account of its technical scope, excluded a great percentage of those who as pastors should at least be familiar with the essence of our musical heritage—the chorale.

If we examine the institutions entrusted with the training of the Lutheran Church musicians, I need no statistics to show that until quite recently there has been no focused realization of a common heritage at these institutions. I need only take you to various churches being served by products of this education. I am certain you will agree that many—not all—but many productions are mongrel, finally affecting even form and philosophy of worship itself. History has shown these to be the advance[d] symptoms of disintegration, affecting often doctrine and confession. We find these symptoms in the Church of England, where there is a divergence between the Low and the High Church, often resulting in great confusion. The history of this Church has shown that there have been periods when many of the simple Christians withdrew from the Church, taking their religion seriously enough to be known as Dissenters.

We had to ask ourselves: Is there one place that has stood unfailingly for the preservation of our heritage? A little more than twenty years ago I organized the Lutheran Church Choir Conference in the northern and southern States of Germany. Ninety per cent of the membership of about twelve hundred singers came from the smaller cities and hamlets. On the occasion of our Fourth Annual Song Festival I invited one of my professors from the Church Music Institute at Leipzig to be our guest at the Festival. We sang the music from the heritage of our Church—individual choirs—mass choruses—they all sang the chorales in their simplicity and in the settings by the Lutheran masters—they sang them and did not croon them—it was a living experience and not an intellectual or aesthetic experience. On our way home, the professor from Leipzig said: "I shall never forget the singing of these simple people (einfachen Leute); that was art for which many of us in our great cities are looking in vain. I doubt if you could find a group of singers in Leipzig who would give us such an experience."—I have never forgotten those words! Our situation is parallel. When I asked myself: Where shall we begin as we take our Seminar to the people—I could think of only one spot—and we are gathered here!

I shall not take the time to discuss the tremendous groundwork laid by our friend and colleague Mr. Bangert. I can ask you only to study his program. For more than twenty years the Lutheran Chorus of Sheboygan has faithfully used the talent with which the Lord entrusted them, and only those who had the privilege of experiencing this heritage in their own lives are able to say what great blessings they received from their participation. Historically this achievement stands.

It is our moral obligation to launch from here, where the seed has been sown, in struggle, tribulation, in faith and prayer, our future program for the Church. Not on ground of human splendor, technical achievement, recognition in the eyes of men, but on the wings of that same faith must we launch the program to coincide with our last year’s resolution. As true missionaries we hope that each succeeding seminar will not ask the vineyard to come to Valparaiso—but that we might go out with this treasure to help and train workers to perpetuate this special heritage in their own territories.

In keeping with the ideals which crystallized out of our two Seminars, emphasis is placed this year on a living experience in our spiritual and cultural heritage. We shall make music with the people, all of us, on the same plane of importance as royal high priests. Naturally, all consideration of technical achievement or particularly schemed nuances have no prominent part in these renditions. Our aim is to stimulate the people to use this heritage themselves and not to depend on a limited group of performers for them. We hope to achieve this during the coming years in all sections of our Church. May the day come when this great musical heritage of the Church has again found its way into our hearts, our homes, our schools, and our churches. This, then, is our task as I see it—to go forth in the strength of our conviction and by means of our peculiar heritage to help and prepare the channels for the free and full flow of the Gospel, holding fast to the powerful Word of God and not departing from it, sounding a clear call and a certain trumpet, avoiding all opiating self-expression in forms of worship, joining as one in praise of God our Father, who created us, of God our Savior, who redeemed us, of God the Holy Spirit, who has sanctified us and has given us the assurance of our salvation.

To this end may God bless all our efforts this week to the glory of His name and the welfare of His Church.

From The Musical Heritage of the Church, Volume III (Valparaiso, Ind.: Valparaiso University, 1946). Reprinted by permission of Valparaiso University.

For personal use only.