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Music of the Early Lutheran Church

            During the history of music, some of the most significant developments were due to religious motivation. The Renaissance era in Europe was characterized by an attitude of reform and pursuit of knowledge. A religious reformation was on its way to hit Europe in the beginning of the 16th century. This would cause a division between the Catholic Church and the new Lutheran Church. Martin Luther would lead this reform and break from the Catholic Church and will eventually fuel new musical traditions and composers.
             Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk and professor at the University of Wittenberg, was responsible for leading the Reformation in Europe in the early 16th century. During the time he was studying theology he encountered a great dilemma. He would question the idea of achieving salvation through one's merits and good deeds in a world filled with immorality. This lead to an epiphany, which he called his "tower experience,"" where he claimed that the just individual shall reach salvation through faith alone. He believed that the Bible is the only necessary medium between an individual and God. These beliefs were the foundation of the Reformation. The event that triggered the Reform was the release of his "Ninety-Five Theses " in 1517. It heavily criticized the Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope for the sales of indulgences that pardoned individuals of their sin. His "Ninety-Five Theses " reached the masses of Germany thanks to the invention of the printing press, and can be interpreted as a result of this recent development. Luther's views became increasingly popular in Germany partly due to the Leipzig Debate that helped settle and solidify his ideas. In 1520, Luther wrote three treatises that laid the groundwork for the protestant church. These works attracted the attention of the German authorities and the Pope. He was excommunicated and then outlawed by the Empire at the Diet of Worms.


Essays Related to Music of the Early Lutheran Church

1. Music and Religious Change in the Renaissance

In Germany, Martin Luther affected musical change, not so much to spite Catholic traditions, but to make church music more accessible to his congregation. ... What was to be born out of Luther's vision for new church music was the hymn. ... The melody was originally just sung as a single monophonic line; however, they progressed into simple homophonic settings of the tunes, very early examples of Chorales. One of the most famous Lutheran Chorales "Ein feste Burg" influenced future composers such as Bach with the numerous Chorales he wrote. ... These can be closely compared to Lutheran h...

  • Word Count: 1035
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Differences Betweeand Black and White Christianity/Church

My experiences in a formal church setting come only from services I've regularly attended at an ELCA Lutheran church and a Presbyterian church. ... In fact, I only saw one black person enter the doors of the Lutheran church (to witness a friend's baptism) in 10 years of attendance, and never at the Presbyterian church. ... To me, the most interesting thing that occurred in black churches is the music. ... These gospel pieces are the same pieces white churches now use to "liven-up" their own services, leading to the difference between music in black and white churches. ... ...

  • Word Count: 1592
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Sacred and Secular Music

Traditionally, when asked to think about sacred music, many people associate it with its early works. ... Sacred music progressed greatly during the Renaissance because the church employed most of the great composers of that era. ... Johann Sebastian Bach, nicknamed the King of Polyphony and considered by many to be the greatest composer in the history of western music, spent most of his life working in a Lutheran church position as both organist and music director. ... Mozart's early career consisted of more sacred music, and later, much more secular. ... This can be seen in many Baptis...

  • Word Count: 642
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Bach

Bach suffered early trauma when his parents died in 1695. ... Blasius Church in Muhlhausen. ... In fact, he toured regularly as a solo virtuoso, and his growing mastery of compositional forms, like the fugue and the canon, were already attracting interest from the musical establishment, which, in his day, was the Lutheran church. The church began to look at Bach's writings and saw the opportunity to possibly use his music in their masses. ... Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany. ...

  • Word Count: 1368
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Bach

Bach's duties included, the responsibility for the music for the four-principle church's, the town's musical life and teaching at the Thomasschule. The majority of his music composed in Leipzig was energetic church music. ... His Mass in B Minor did not follow the tradition format of the Roman Catholic Church, but the format of the Lutheran Church. ... Bach also thought he could please both Catholics and Lutherans by using the traditional texts which would open appeal of the mass to all. ... It belongs to the group of works that he sorted through, revised, and assembled into ...

  • Word Count: 1969
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Bach

Bach suffered early trauma when his parents died in 1695. ... id off for him at an early age (Geiringer). ... In fact, he toured regularly as a solo virtuoso, and his growing mastery of compositional forms, like the fugue and the canon, were already attracting interest from the musical establishment, which, in his day, was the Lutheran church. The church began to look at Bach's writings and saw the opportunity to possibly use his music in their masses. ... Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany. ...

  • Word Count: 1568
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Js Bach- A Musicians Musician

Bach suffered early trauma when his parents died in 1695. ... id off for him at an early age (Geiringer). ... In fact, he toured regularly as a solo virtuoso, and his growing mastery of compositional forms, like the fugue and the canon, were already attracting interest from the musical establishment, which, in his day, was the Lutheran church. The church began to look at Bach's writings and saw the opportunity to possibly use his music in their masses. ... Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany. ...

  • Word Count: 1568
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Baroque Period

Also opera first appeared in the early baroque era. ... Opera and solo singing helped form the baroque style, and this style was mainly a part of church music. ... During the Baroque Era, there were expulsions of many protestant churches, and the Catholic Church nearly wipe out Protestant power. ... Thomas' Church. ... A devout Lutheran, He composed a great many church works, well over two hundred cantatas" several motets, five masses, three oratorios, and four settings of the Passion story, one of which, The ST. ...

  • Word Count: 893
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Age Of Renaissance

Lutheranism was then born around fifteen twenty-two. Lutheran Churches became territorial and state churches meaning the state supervised and diciplined the members. ... Music was eliminated from the service as a distraction from the pure word of God. ... Church was a devine institution according to John. ... Calvinism had replaced Lutheranism as the international form of Protestantism and Geneva stood as a Fortress of Reformation. ...

  • Word Count: 1648
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

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