Before proceeding, let me define my topic. Webster’s dictionary gives two definitions for the word “hymnody.” The first is “the act or art of singing hymns.” It is in this sense that I use the word. In this essay I want to speak of the act or art of singing hymns at the time of the Reformation. In another essay I want to discuss our present situation in the light of some of the suggestions from the Reformation.

In the preface to the Wittenberg Hymnal, 1524, Martin Luther wrote:

That it is good and God pleasing to sing hymns is, I think, known to every Christian; for everyone is aware not only of the example of the prophets and kings in the Old Testament who praised God with song and sound, with poetry and psaltery, but also of the common and ancient custom of the Christian church to sing Psalms. St. Paul himself instituted this in 1 Cor. 14[:15] and exhorted the Colossians [3:16] to sing spiritual songs and psalms heartily unto the Lord so that God’s Word and Christian teaching might be instilled and implanted in many ways.

Therefore I, too, in order to make a start and to give an incentive to those who can do better, have with the help of others compiled several hymns, so that the holy Gospel which now by the grace of God has risen anew may be noised and spread abroad.

Like Moses in his song [Ex. 15:2], we may now boast that Christ is our praise and song and say with St. Paul, 1 Cor. 2[:2], that we should know nothing to sing or say, save Jesus Christ our Savior.^[1]

The Situation Before Luther’s Time

But what Luther desired was not reality in Luther’s day. Hymn singing was not common among the people, neither at home nor in their churches. In the fourth century, the Council of Laodicea had ruled: “Beside the psalm singers appointed thereto, who mount the ambo and sing out of the book, no others shall sing in the church.”

As a result the music in the church had been taken over by the clergy and the choir, and hymn singing in the congregation had become almost nonexistent. Though there might have been reason for this decree by the council, namely, that the writing of hymns had fallen into disrepute because the Arians and the Gnostics had made extensive use of hymns, our judgment would certainly be that the decree was most unfortunate. The singing of hymns was at Luther’s time permitted only on special occasions and in some of the minor services.

Erik Routley comments on the situation at that time:

During the Middle Ages the church in western Europe was the center of culture and, for long periods, the arbiter of the political destinies of nations. The power and security which it achieved in those thousand years may be measured by the great weight of corruption which it was able to sustain in its later centuries without being overturned altogether. For these thousand years the unit of the church’s life was substantially a monastery, and the system of public devotion was based on the monastery. The great act of public worship was the Mass, in the celebration of which the people took only a passive part. But subsidiary to the Mass, and performed only by the “religious,” that is, the members of the monastic orders, were the “offices” of the church, short acts of worship during which the Scriptures were read and the Psalms recited and prayers offered. The offices were the machinery by which the religious performed intercession on behalf of the world and it was considered proper for the peasant and the landlord of the feudal society to look to the local monastic community at Office time and recall that on their behalf the prayers were being offered by those who were set aside to do so. The layman was not expected to do more than participate passively in the Mass and receive instruction and absolution from his parish priest. Hymn singing, therefore, was not the layman’s business at all.^[2]

Though the clergy and the choirs had monopolized the singing in the services since before the 13th century, and though as early as 574 women had been forbidden to sing in the church, wherever the spirit of the Lord had been permitted to work in men’s hearts, people had begun to sing, or perhaps we ought rather to say, had continued to sing the songs of salvation. For instance, among the followers of John Hus in Bohemia hymn singing as a spontaneous song had developed to a rather remarkable degree. John Hus himself died singing as he was burned at the stake in 1415. The Hussites, or Bohemian Brethren, sang in their native tongue. When the last survivors of this group were driven into exile in Moravia and Saxony, their songs were translated into German and became an integral part of the general stream of German hymnody, so even before Luther’s appearance and the beginnings of the Lutheran Reformation, there was some singing of hymns.

Luther’s Concern About the Singing of Hymns

It remained for Martin Luther, however, to be, as some have called him, “the inventor of congregational singing” and “the father of evangelical hymnody.”

A few quotes from Luther’s writings will indicate rather quickly Luther’s concern for music in the church and particularly for congregational singing.

In a foreword to a collection of compositions published in 1538 by Georg Rhau, Luther wrote:

I, Dr. Martin Luther, wish all lovers of the unshackled art of music grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ! I truly desire that all Christians would love and regard as worthy the lovely gift of music, which is a precious, worthy, and costly treasure given mankind by God. The riches of music are so excellent and so precious that words fail me whenever I attempt to discuss and describe them. . . . In summa, next to the word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in this world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits. . . . Our dear fathers and prophets did not desire without reason that music be always used in the churches. Hence we have so many songs and psalms. This precious gift has been given to man alone that he might thereby remind himself of the fact that God has created man for the express purpose of praising and extolling God. However, when man’s natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace. . . . A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard it [music] as a marvelous creation of God must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.^[3]

In a foreword prepared for the Valentin Babst Gesangbuch of 1544, Luther wrote in part:

. . . The worship in the New Testament church is on a higher plane than that of the Old; the psalmist refers to this fact when he says: “Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.” For God has made our hearts and spirits happy through His dear Son, whom He has delivered up that we might be redeemed from sin, death, and the devil. He who believes this sincerely and earnestly cannot help but be happy: he must cheerfully sing and talk about this, that others might hear it and come to Christ. If any would not sing and talk of what Christ has wrought for us, he shows thereby that he does not really believe and that he belongs not into the New Testament, which is an era of joy, but into the Old, which produces not the spirit of joy but of unhappiness and discontent.^[4]

This brief statement might also be added. It is from a comment which Luther made about the works of Ludwig Senfl.

I would not be able to compose such a motet, even if I would tear myself to pieces in the attempt, just as he [Senfl] would not be able to preach as I can. Hence the gifts of God are of many kinds and sorts, just as there are many different members in one body. But men are not content with their own gifts; they are not satisfied with what God has given them. All want to be the whole body, not merely members of it.

I have always loved music. Those who have mastered this art are made of good stuff, they are fit for any task. It is necessary indeed that music be taught in the schools. A teacher must be able to sing; otherwise I will not as much as look at him. Also, we should not ordain young men into the ministry unless they have become well acquainted with music in the schools.

Music is a beautiful and glorious gift of God and close to theology. I would not give up what little I know about music for something else which I might have in greater abundance. We should always make it a point to habituate youth to enjoy the art of music, for it produces fine and skillful people.^[5]

But Luther’s concern was not only for good music in the churches; one could perhaps say not primarily for good music. His principal concern was for the people in his congregation and in other congregations. In a letter to Spalatinus, secretary to Frederick the Wise, Luther wrote in 1523:

Following the example of the prophets and fathers of the church, we intend to collect German psalms for the people so that through the medium of song the Word of God may remain among the people.^[6]

In the preface to the Geistliches Gesangbüchlein Luther said:

Every Christian knows that the practice of singing spiritual songs is wholesome and well pleasing unto God, for everybody knows that not only the prophets and kings of Israel (who praised God with vocal and instrumental music, with songs and stringed instruments) but also the early Christians, who sang especially psalms, used music already in the early stages of the church’s history. Indeed, St. Paul encouraged the use of music (1 Cor. 14), and in his Epistle to the Colossians he insists that Christians appear before God with psalms and spiritual songs which emanate from the heart, in order that through these the Word of God and Christian doctrine may be preached, taught, and put into practice.

Bearing all this in mind, I, together with several others, have collected a number of spiritual songs in order that a beginning might be made to prepare and gather such material and also that others, whose ability is greater than ours, be induced to do such work. This should be done that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which through God’s grace is now again being proclaimed, might be set going and spread among men. Thus shall we, as did Moses in his famous song (Ex. 15), derive satisfaction from the fact that Christ is the theme of our songs of praise, and thus shall we indicate that we desire to sing and to tell that Christ alone is our Savior, as St. Paul says (1 Cor. 2).

The music is arranged in four parts. I desire this particularly in the interest of the young people, who should and must receive an education in music as well as in the other arts if we are to wean them away from carnal and lascivious songs and interest them in what is good and wholesome. Only thus will they learn, as they should, to love and appreciate what is intrinsically good. I am not of the opinion that because of the Gospel all arts should be rejected violently and vanish, as is desired by the heterodox, but I desire that all arts, particularly music, be employed in the service of Him who has given and created them. I pray, therefore, that every pious Christian would approve of what I have said and, if God has endowed him with the necessary talents and ability, help further the cause. Unfortunately the world has become lax towards the real needs of its youth and has forgotten to train and educate its sons and daughters along proper lines. The welfare of our youth should be our chief concern. God grant us His grace. Amen.^[7]

The singing of hymns was a rather new experience for the people. In order that everyone might learn to sing hymns, rehearsals were held weekly in the congregations, and the families of the church were encouraged to sing hymns when they held their daily instruction hours in the catechism. Hymns were also taught in the schools under Luther’s direction, and teachers who traveled from place to place helped to spread the hymns throughout the entire land. Hymn singing became quite popular, in fact, so much so that Luther’s enemies remarked that he was winning more people through his singing than through his sermons and his writings.

The Sources of Reformation Hymns

As has been indicated previously, there were not many hymns in existence. The hymns which developed during Luther’s time came primarily from four sources.

First, there were the Latin hymns which were in use in the church. The hymns of the Reformation drew their substance and vitality in great measure from the chants of the ordinary. Luther translated these texts into German and in some instances made changes in the texts to fit the doctrines of the Reformation. These became in a sense “new” hymns and became a basic part of the hymn literature of the Lutheran Church.

Secondly, there were the popular hymns of that time. These were the folksongs which the people sang. Luther in some instances used the music and gave new texts to the hymns; in other instances, he used both text and music but with certain changes.

Thirdly, there were the secular folksong melodies for which new texts were written. A large number of the chorales, as well as hymns from other countries, have come from secular folksongs. It must be said that among the hymns which are known today, the most singable are often the folksongs that have grown up among the people.

Fourthly, there were the original chorales which were written for the church. Here at least two names must be mentioned, Johann Walther and Martin Luther. In many of these chorales the melodic characteristics are quite similar to the German folksongs. From these sources there developed a rather substantial body of hymnody which, as indicated previously, became quite well known among the people of Germany.

The Results

The results of all this are with us today and will undoubtedly be with us as long as the church remains militant, perhaps even into eternity. In his book The Gospel in Hymns Albert Edward Bailey says:

The great accomplishments of Luther may be thus summarized: He established the Protestant church in Germany known as Lutheran; he “gave the people in their own language the Bible, the catechism, and the hymnbook so that God might speak directly to them in His Word, and that they might directly answer Him in their songs.”^[8]

Then Mr. Bailey adds this comment:

All these were important, but it was the hymnbook that gen­erated the power. Luther took the hymn out of a foreign tongue, away from the choir, away from an inelastic niche in a standardized liturgy; he gave it spontaneity and, while re­quiring that the hymn be evangelical, he did not otherwise restrict the free imagination of any poet who was inspired to write. The result was a copious stream of hymnody that preached a Gospel of joy; spiritual folk songs which flooded the home and the school as well as the church and became a never-failing spring of spirituality in people’s hearts and lives.^[9]

One result of Luther’s work, together with that of other musicians who worked with him and who sensed the importance of hymn singing, was that the services became meaningful and real for the people. No longer were they spectators but participants in the dialog between God and His people. For instance, a chorale was substituted between the Epistle and the Gospel for the Gradual psalms sung in Latin. The hymn sung in the language of the people was meaningful to them. From this there developed a very rich heritage of hymns which fit the church year and which included good tunes and good texts.

Another result was the development of the hymn for the day, or what we now sometimes call the hymn of the week. Each Sunday acquired its own special hymn which reflected the theme in the propers for the day. As instances, the hymn “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice” became the hymn for Cantate Sunday, the Fourth Sunday After Easter, and the hymn “Our Father, Thou in Heaven Above” became the hymn for Rogate, the Fifth Sunday After Easter. Both fit very well with the propers for the day. Not only did the hymn of the week become familiar in the service for that Sunday, but the hymn of the week was as a result sung in the homes and in the schools. This established a basic core of hymns for use throughout the entire year and gave the people a limited number of hymns which they could sing without the leadership of the music directors in the churches and without the benefit of an instrument. It is unfortunate that this custom was largely abandoned in the 18th century and virtually forgotten until recent years.

Another result of the hymn singing of the Reformation was that the chorale became a veritable foundation for German music. The chorales have had an unusual influence on the style of later composers from Bach to Brahms to Wagner and composers even in a later day. It must be said that it was Martin Luther who laid the foundation for this musical heritage in the church. Albert Schweitzer says that if Luther had not been the musician he was, Bach would never have been able to make the contribution to sacred music he made.

If there were time, it would be interesting to compare the Reformation in Germany, as far as the hymnody is concerned, with the Reformation in other countries. Let one illustration suffice. Dr. Bailey, in The Gospel in Hymns remarks:

When Henry VIII of England used his divorce from Catherine of Aragon as a lever to pry the English church loose from the grip of Rome, he too threw away Latin hymns, but unlike Luther he put nothing in their place. Under the influence of John Calvin, the theologian, the newly founded Anglican and Scottish churches rejected all hymns of “human composure” but allowed the people to sing Biblical psalms made metrical. This set back for nearly two hundred years the creation of genuine hymns in the vernacular.^[10]

Though I may not have said anything new in this paper, I hope I have pulled together through quotations and comments some thoughts which will help us in our thinking about the place of music and hymns in the church today. In our second lecture, on the background of the thoughts we have set forth here, we shall try to look at ourselves and to suggest ways in which we might improve our hymn singing.

Cited References

1. Luther’s Works, Liturgy & Hymns, LIII (Philadelphia, 1965), 315–316.
2. Erik Routley, Hymns & Human Life (London, 1952), pp. 24–25.
3. Walter E. Buszin, “Luther on Music,” Musical Quarterly, XXXII, 1 (Jan. 1946), reprint by Lutheran Society for Worship, Music and the Arts, 1958, pp. 5–6.
4. Ibid., p. 6.
5. Ibid., pp. 7–8.
6. Ibid., p. 9.
7. Ibid., p. 10.
8. Albert Edward Bailey, The Gospel in Hymns (New York, 1952), p. 313.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid., p.309.

From The Musical Heritage of the Church, Volume VII (St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1970). 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.