Undoubtedly one of the most important departures from the lackadaisical attitude of congregations towards church music is the recent movement initiated by Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, which is affiliated with The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. The movement has for its slogan, “The Musical Heritage of the Church.” Preachers, choirmasters, organists, and other music lovers have united in this movement in order to awaken the Lutheran congregations of America from indifference and to demonstrate to them the greatness and the beauty of the tradition of the Lutheran Church in the field of musical composition. The head of this aggressive circle, which believes in invigorated religious thinking and invigorated church music culture, is Prof. Theodore Hoelty-Nickel, a practitioner of music who has a scholarly outlook on matters musical and under whose guidance the project has made noteworthy progress. The sessions of the church music seminars in Valparaiso are centered in such topics as the Protestant chorale, organ music in the 17th and 18th centuries, a cappella singing, and other topics stressing the relationship of the liturgy and religious thought to music.

But the movement is by no means an academic one; on the contrary, Professor Hoelty-Nickel believes that the “Heritage of the Church” is a concept which can be made clear to congregations generally by professional and amateur ensembles combining their efforts to give practical demonstrations of old choral and organ music, both in the services and apart from the services. From the very outset the Valparaiso program has emphasized the necessity of applied scholarship. The principle is explained as the combined activity of scholars and practitioners for the purpose of effecting a restoration of Lutheran church music written between Luther and Bach. This movement should have a decided influence upon all American Protestant Churches.

An important contribution to date is the publication of several volumes of lectures delivered at the Church Music Institute and printed by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo., which has recently begun to specialize in the publication of the musical heritage of the Church. While until a few years ago church music literature of the 16th to the 18th century was available practically only in esoteric scholarly editions, most of which had to be imported from Germany, we now have in America also a series of good church music of the masters edited for practical purposes in editions which reveal a scholarly attitude and an understanding of style. The writer of this article is happy to report that the music-pioneering Lutherans at Valparaiso University have shown a deep understanding of the strictly musicological issues. As the first musicologist to participate in the program, he was indeed gratified to learn that the members of the movement included in their deliberations, lectures, and discussions leading scholars of the world. To name but a few: Paul Henry Lang, Professor of Musicology at Columbia University, New York; Leo Schrade, Professor of Musicology at Yale; Paul Nettl, Professor of Musicology at Indiana University; and Professor Donald Ferguson, Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota. In formal and informal addresses, these and others have discussed questions concerning Luther, the chorale, the organ music of the Baroque, the performance of old masterworks in general.

Most gratifying of all—in addition to the fact that these seminars have attracted musicians from all over America to a little college town in America’s Midwest—is the enthusiasm which has persisted after the meetings. If congregations on the whole have become more responsive to the better things in choral and organ literature, it is to no small extent due to the vigor of these conferences. Furthermore, the project has increased the demand for special training courses and even special training institutions in which prospective church musicians would acquire the musical experience and the artistic and scholarly knowledge necessary for the understanding of the musical treasure of the past. This demand is now being met. There are available now in the Midwest opportunities for musicians to acquaint themselves with the music of Luther’s time, with the works of such men as Buxtehude, Pachelbel, Boehm, Kuhnau, and others. More specifically, it can be said that already the interest in the cantatas of Bach and his contemporaries has risen throughout the country largely as a result of the inquiries and investigations by these devotees of church music. Few conferences on music in the past decade have been either as wholesome or as productive as the Valparaiso meetings. Here is one of the few places where today music scholars and artists sit down together to discuss vital issues which in turn will benefit Christian congregations everywhere. The man who has made this situation possible is Theodore Hoelty-Nickel. And one of the few universities which thus far have shown an understanding of the sad state of church music in America and taken definite steps to provide a remedy is Valparaiso University.

Hans Rosenwald

From The Musical Heritage of the Church, Volume IV (St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1954). Copyright Concordia Publishing House. Printed by permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Concordia Publishing House.