I

Has the Lutheran hymn run its course? Many observers of the Evangelical Church today believe it has. The critics assert in a similar manner that the history of the Evangelical hymn has come to an end. This note was sounded in an Evangelical journal for students and scholars already in 1959 (cf. S. Daeke in Radius, 1959, No. 3). According to him, the Lutheran hymn, one of the outstanding witnesses of confessional Christianity, has run its course. Now, if we were to gather the somewhat divergent reasons these critics advance for this phenomenon, we would summarize them as follows.

1. In a constantly changing world everything has its day; this applies also to the hymn. Since the form of the hymn is a product of this world, change and decay are a part of its nature.
2. The Evangelical hymn of Germany, to the time of Jochen Klepper and R. A. Schröder, bears the marks of the past, especially in its manner of expression. One doesn’t speak that way today because so much has changed so completely, especially the social order.
3. From the viewpoint of poetic art, the critics point out that the form of the rhymed strophic song has expended its strength; it doesn’t fit today and thus is no longer usable.
4. The critics also attack the musical form. They state that modality, especially major and minor, can no longer serve as the musical language of our time. And those who are active especially in youth services assert that hymns lack the vital rhythms so characteristic of the spiritual and of jazz.
5. In the matter of content especially, the slowly approaching theological confrontation with church music becomes very acute. The content, say the critics, no longer corresponds by and large to modern theological concepts, for hymns speak in much too primitive a way about God, heaven, Satan, and the angels—yes, even about Jesus Christ.
6. The critics also assert that contemporary man no longer sings, or at any rate he doesn’t like to sing anymore. He likes to listen to music; perhaps he will play an instrument, but singing means nothing to him. And the feeble singing heard in the churches today proves the point.

Has the Lutheran hymn run its course? It almost looks like it when one gathers the individual critical expressions and presents them as forcefully as in the six points above.

II

But we would make it too easy for ourselves if we would put off the sharp criticism of the Evangelical Christian hymn with a shrug of the shoulders and refuse to take the critics seriously.

It is difficult to take these people seriously and to avoid sarcastic comments, because the substitute some of them offer is of such ordinary quality, both in text, literary form, and musical expression. The new hymn writers in Tutzing do not hold that the rhymed strophic song has reached the end of its development. To the contrary, they use a form of this genre which makes one wish it had. Unfortunately, this manner of criticism, the substitution of watered-down religious hit songs, of such poor quality that one resists even discussing them, has actually been very effective. For right now the songs from Tutzing, especially those used in the modern youth services, have supplanted the hymns in our hymnal.

I cannot examine this phenomenon in greater depth at present. I shall rather assume the prerogative to offer my own explicit criticism after I have supported my rejection with detailed, factual argumentation in a series of essays and lectures.

With the exception of a few noteworthy examples which do not deserve the name, the religious hit song is not well suited to the life of the Christian congregation, because the world of entertainment music, from which it comes, hides the gulf between the holiness of God and the sin of man and aids in removing the fear of God. The religious hit song also disregards emotional restraint by and large. I should like to quote from a radio broadcast concerning sentimentality (M. Dombrowski): “When the strength of faith wanes, an emotional bliss comes to the fore which expresses itself in sentimentality. This counterfeit sentimentality is not a conscious deception, but it does in fact deceive the participant and his fellowman.” My third objection to the religious hit song in the Tutzing style concerns the quality of text and of music. God is not taken seriously when songs of thanksgiving are of such cheap construction. As a church with many gifts, we owe God quality. I shall withhold any further objections of a specialized nature.

III

I should now like to demonstrate why we dare not give up the treasury of hymns in the Evangelical hymnal and in other sources, also why it may seem difficult to feel at home in many of these hymns. Perhaps in the process we shall gain a measure of appreciation for the old hymns and also for the new hymns of superior quality. It is unfortunately correct to state: our age is no longer receptive to the hymns of Reformation ancestry.

As people who breathe the air of this present age, we are not particularly disposed to use the Evangelical hymn. It was an entirely different matter during the Kirchenkampf. I should like to speak from my limited experience in the Bavarian State Church. At that time the hymns concerning the church were truly alive for us, and never did it bother us to encounter archaic expressions. The hymns matched the situation perfectly. They were true to life and flourished in the fullness of strength without any kind of external aid.

O little flock, fear not the Foe
Who madly seeks your overthrow;
Dread not his rage and power.
What though your courage sometime faints,
His seeming triumph o’er God’s saints
Lasts but a little hour.
            (TLH 263, Jacob Fabricius, 1593–1634)

Can they do the same for us today in the moment of truth? I am sure they can. Our good hymns are indeed for the moment of truth. We clergymen experience their power anew when we pray at the hospital bed or at the deathbed in the words of Paul Gerhardt:

Thy hand is never shortened,
All things must serve Thy might;
Thine every act is blessing,
Thy path is purest light.
Thy work no man can hinder,
Thy purpose none can stay,
Since Thou to bless Thy children
Wilt always find a way.
(TLH 520)

Our good hymns are for the moment of truth. Much criticism will cease forthwith when the circumstances of life demand a sturdy spiritual diet in place of a meager fare. In his book Die treuen Helfer Willy Kramp tells how the power of the Evangelical hymn was revealed anew in the solitary confinement of his undeserved imprisonment:

In the hour of utmost need, when all images of the world outside were withheld from my eyes, I experienced to my great amazement that the hymns I learned in my youth arose from the depths of my memory. . . . I had not realized previously what I had lost. But now, in my empty cell, where no books, no music, no human voice called me away from my utter loneliness, I experienced, and not without pain, what a treasure had slipped from my grasp, and I attempted to reach into the depths to retrieve what was not completely lost. . . . And what I recovered helped me to live . . .

In those days I resolved that in the future I would treat these spiritual treasures with more respect, that I would not let them repeatedly slip into oblivion if I didn’t need them but would give them a prominent place in my life, if indeed God would again grant me a normal life.

One should heed Kramp’s voice very carefully, because in him poetic skill and the experience of a Christian who has traveled the valley of the shadow of death concur in thanksgiving for the inexhaustible strength of the Evangelical hymn. Is it still possible to seriously ask: Has the Lutheran hymn run its course?

Our discussion so far does not pretend, of course, to settle the question of the contemporary hymn. But the questions will be raised with more restraint and less nerve when one comes to the full realization that the living character and actual strength of the hymn is attributable to a directness of expression born of the Holy Scriptures rather than of the spirit of an age.

One rejoices to see hymns written today that ring true. The members of our Christian congregations naturally embrace these hymns and sing them joyfully, because they are seeking Biblical consolation and divine comfort in the hymn. This is true particularly of a hymn that Jochen Klepper wrote in 1938, for which Johannes Petzold, the Thuringian cantor, supplied a new melody. Many said it would not last when it was included in the Evangelical hymnal. They said the text was too conventional, the melody was too modal; the congregations would never accept it. But surprisingly enough the hymn is still flourishing today:

Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen,
Der Tag ist nicht mehr fern.
So sei nun Lob gesungen
dem hellen Morgenstern!
Auch wer zur Nacht geweinet,
der stimme froh mit ein,
der Morgenstern bescheinet
auch Deine Angst und Pein.     (EKG 14)

One may certainly point to the fact that this hymn is already 30 years old. Nor does it answer the problem of the contemporary hymn. But this Advent hymn, which is really broader than Advent, demonstrates at the very least that the line of good hymn writers extends from Luther even into our own time.

If we today want to draw near to the hymn treasures of old and to the new hymns following in their path, we must allow them to address us, and we must expose ourselves to their power in the hour of our greatest need, either collectively in the church, or as individual Christians.

In view of the criticisms leveled against hymns, it seems necessary to me to point out another fact that may help explain the estrangement of many contemporaries from the hymn. At the same time I should also like to encourage renewed use of this neglected approach.

The solid Evangelical hymn is not a light snack that tastes good at the moment and then disappears like whipped cream before it is swallowed. To the contrary, it requires effort. It is rather like a complete dinner that has to be digested slowly. Perhaps another comparison may be risked: the hymn is not like a loose woman who flippantly embraces anyone. To the contrary, it desires to be wooed and won. Permit me to quote Willy Kramp once more.

Since this poetry yields itself entirely to the Word that created heaven and earth, it expresses an existence in God. And that is its peculiar gift. Because of this, one cannot grasp the content like that of a lecture or a sermon that he has heard or read once. This text can only be comprehended if one assimilates its totality, its individual words as well as its subtleties. Every detail is important, just like getting to know another person.

Such study opens an inexhaustible treasure of deepened understandings and viewpoints. Then we are safe on the entire path that leads through the trials and joys of this world to the place where the power of suffering and death is removed in God.

Since our ability to worship God with undivided attention or to study a religious painting (not just to give it a fleeting glance), in short, since our ability for evangelical meditation is so meager, access to the Evangelical hymn is almost impossible. But we can learn a lesson now and regain access to the hymn if we are willing and if the matter is worth the effort to us. It is of utmost importance in the training of the youth in the congregational hymn to realize that they need not understand every detail right away. Who can do that under any circumstances? But it is important to grasp the spirit of the hymn and to experience it if possible. If I am a guest in someone’s home, I need not examine every room in the house, including cellar and attic, to feel at home there. It is enough to be with the host and hostess in the living room. The same principle applies to the hymn. If I have perceived the comforting mood of the hymn “Commit Whatever Grieves Thee,” many a passage in the hymn may be unclear at first or may even remain unclear, but I shall still be consoled and shall experience the strength of this hymn of my church.

Perhaps I shall make use of it for a long time before I penetrate the deeper thoughts of the hymn and discover its nuances. Perhaps I was drawn to the hymn in my youth, and, unless I set myself against it, it never slipped away from me. This has happened to many people with a morning hymn of greater dimension than the designation really implies: “Come, Thou Bright and Morning Star.” It is certain that many a turn of phrase is influenced by the era of the poet Knorr von Rosenroth. But there is great reward in store for him who does not stumble over this fact but rather prays the hymn meditatively, or better yet, sings it even though he may question the musical form:

May Thy fervent love destroy
Our cold works, in us awaking
Ardent zeal and holy joy
At the purple morn’s first breaking.
Let us truly rise ere yet
Life has set.       (TLH 539)

It is not by accident that this hymn has been translated into 40 languages and has thereby become an ecumenical treasure.

In our discussion of the hymn we must consider the fact that it is not only the text that is important; the melody also is an essential ingredient. The relation between text and melody varies considerably in our hymnal, depending upon the type of hymn, and particularly upon its stylistic background. Some hymns lend themselves more to reading than to singing; there are not many of these. There are others that become lofty and unfold in full beauty and strength when they are sung. And there are still others, again not many, that are effective only when they are sung. Among the latter is the Advent hymn of Luther which has been harshly criticized: “Savior of the Nations, Come.” I must confess that it creates no difficulties for me, since I learned to sing it many years ago. And ever since that time the splendor of this early Christian hymn has refreshed me again and again.

The full strength of many a hymn is revealed only when one hears it in its complete form, in the union of text and melody. Even though one might appreciate the comforting text of “A Mighty Fortress” through reading or speaking, he perceives a new dimension in the hymn when he sings it in its rhythmically forceful setting, not the isometric version.

In some cases text and melody are so closely joined that one is moved spiritually by the melody alone. This fact has led to the use of brass choirs. “Now Thank We All Our God” or “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” have reached the heart of many on the ecclesiastical periphery in polyphonic settings with cantus firmus.

But if one is to experience the inexhaustible strength of the hymn most profoundly, then he must literally sing it into his bloodstream. It is true that people do not care much about singing today, and there are many reasons for this trend. Perhaps the emphasis in the curricula of our school has been badly misplaced, perhaps even in our entire educational system. A little child still likes to sing. And the children in our schools could sing much better if our teachers and also our clergymen were better equipped for the task.

In my opinion, it would be a serious violation of parental responsibility if we should yield on this point. Fortunately there are still many children in our schools who like to sing. The steady growth of the children’s choir and the youth Kantorei in Germany proves the point. It is very questionable, therefore, whether one should conclude that our people in general and our children in particular are losing the joy of singing. The Union of Evangelical Church Choirs in Germany saw the opportunity a few years ago to offer a unique service to the growing work of children’s choirs, and we are very fortunate to be able to observe a promising development.

If the diagnosis of the critics were correct, those who appear almost exclusively in church-related journals, on church-related radio and television programs, then the church today would consist only of congregations of tired singers, young people to whom the hymn is completely foreign, and Christian families who no longer sing hymns at home, except perhaps at Christmas.

On the basis of my life experience, I should like to vigorously attack this defeatist attitude over against the hymn, without in any way spreading a contrived optimism. It is precisely through the constant emphasis of criticism and resignation that many living and healthy traditions can be shaken and even destroyed. What we need is encouragement and experienced help. We know from the writings of Luther that even at his time he had to overcome much indolence and resistance to the singing of new hymns. The simplistic, popular view of the Reformation era would lead us to believe that almost all people at that time sang the new hymns with enthusiasm. This was indeed the case in given instances, as for example with our Gradual hymn for the festival of Reformation “Salvation unto Us Has Come.” But as a whole, a responsive effort has always been necessary in the church, and with some changing elements, of course, it still is necessary today if the church is to sing enthusiastically. We dare not give up. We know that the singing of a little child awakens naturally and spontaneously even in an unmusical environment. This fact demonstrates that we are dealing with a most basic element of human behavior. He who does not sing anymore has sold a most precious birthright. Let us take this opportunity to ask ourselves seriously what our contribution to hymn singing has been.

We still have not adequately treated the problem of modern melodies. But one fact is sure: the resources of modal melodicism, especially major and minor, has by no means been exhausted.

IV

But there are still a few things to say about the problem of the contemporary hymn. There are contemporary hymns that can be used. But there are not many that affirm our tradition and at the same time bear the marks of our own age in text and melody.

It is indeed difficult to define exactly what is contemporary in text and music. For we have at present no definite criteria that will aid us in the use of contemporary songs as congregational hymns. Contemporary lyrics, with their extremely individualistic imprint and their many meaningless syllables, cannot become a congregational hymn. Neither can a tone-row, derived from the principles of dodecaphony, form a melody that congregations can sing, because it is simply too difficult. The element of syncopation has been used ad absurdum in the youth services. Yet there are texts and melodies which do not merely restore the old forms but owe their life to our present age. In this connection one is reminded of a statement of Wolfgang Schauze: “Thus the contemporary hymn is in no way modern and true to life in the banal sense, as many would like to have it today. Its literary style may very well make demands upon the heart and mind of the singing worshiper.”

Those people who take a positive view over against our hymnal also affirm the use of the contemporary hymn. But they do not affirm it with a false interpretation of the injunction: “Sing unto the Lord a new song!” For this Scriptural exhortation has nothing to do with the time when a hymn is written. H. J. Kraus, professor of Old Testament, comments thus on Ps. 96:1: “The new song is the comprehensive, eschatological song which breaks all barriers of time and space.” The New Testament underscores and enlarges upon this interpretation: the “new song” in the Revelation of Saint John is sung in the eternal world created anew by Christ. For the singing of this hymn God has called men who are created anew through Christ: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). For the term “new” with its eschatological emphasis, the New Testament usually employs a special word, while to describe temporally new things it uses a more secular term, so to speak. We may only use the Biblical injunction “Sing unto the Lord a new song” in a roundabout way as the basis of an exhortation toward contemporary hymnody. Yet we are forced to take up the problem of the contemporary hymn very seriously in view of the transitory nature of all earthly things, the change in attitude toward life, the change in the social order, changes in linguistic usage, and the responsibility of each age to coin its unique manner of thanksgiving. At the same time it must be said that one cannot force the contemporary hymn to be written. There are times when such a harvest is very meager. Then we have to wait patiently, and we must not create hastily contrived substitutes.

In any case, continued use of the heritage of hymns is justified not only because the contemporary hymn is not flourishing at present but because we affirm thereby that we in the church join those who have gone before us in singing our common praises. By our singing we affirm the historical nature of the church.

Wilhelm Stählin once stated that to understand the nature of Reformation a short Latin sentence is helpful: Anima forma corporis. This can never mean: “The soul is the form of the body.” If it were turned around, it would be understood as: “The body is the form of the soul.” Forma must mean something else: The soul is the formative principle, the creative power of the body. This gives the sentence its correct meaning. Reformation is not the restoration of a past form or structure of the church. That would be antihistorical Romanticism. Reformation rather wins anew the true form, or formative principle, of the church of Jesus Christ.

Thus in order to carry out hymnological and liturgical reform properly, we must return to our true heritage and there find the responsive beginning and impulse for continuation and renewal. And this is also the way we should understand the Evangelical hymnal: not only a compilation of our heritage but at the same time an instruction book, a source, and an impulse for the new song.

Consequently we may assert that the Lutheran hymn has by no means run its course, since every good contemporary hymn writer draws strength from it. Together with our obligation to criticize responsibly the rich heritage handed down to us, we should not cease to use it thankfully and to incorporate also the new attempts at contemporary hymnody. I believe that although some of its directness has been lost, Luther’s encouragement has lost none of its profound meaning for us:

Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice,
With exultation springing,
And, with united heart and voice
And holy rapture singing,
Proclaim the wonders God hath done,
How His right arm the victory won;
Right dearly it hath cost Him.     (TLH 387)

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.