1483–1546 · Baroque
Martin Luther (1483–1546) was a German theologian who set the Reformation in motion and, for musicians, one of those who introduced congregational singing in German. He wrote texts and chose melodies for church songs later called the Protestant chorale. Among his best-known chorales is Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. The site has his sheet music for mixed choir.
Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Eisleben. His father, Hans Luther, was a peasant who had moved there hoping for a better life and worked in the copper mines. After Martin's birth the family moved to the mountain town of Mansfeld, where his father became a prosperous townsman.
In 1497 his parents sent Martin to a Franciscan school in Magdeburg. At that time he and his friends earned their bread by singing beneath the windows of devout townspeople. In 1501, by his parents' decision, he entered the University of Erfurt, where students first had to complete a course in the seven liberal arts. In 1505 Luther received a master's degree in those subjects.
In that same year, 1505, having begun to study law, Luther entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt against his father's will. He took monastic vows in 1506 and was ordained a priest in 1507.
In 1508 Luther was sent to teach at the new University of Wittenberg. In 1512 he received a doctorate in theology and then took Staupitz's place as lecturer in theology. Erasmus Alberus was among his students. Luther lectured on the psalms in 1513—1515 and on the Epistle to the Romans in 1515—1516, and studied the Bible painstakingly.
In 1517 Luther made public his Ninety-five Theses against the sale of indulgences, proposing a scholarly disputation. Word of the theses spread with lightning speed. In 1520 Pope Leo X demanded that Luther publicly renounce his teaching; he refused, after which the pope excommunicated him from the Catholic Church.
At the Diet of Worms in 1521 Emperor Charles V likewise demanded that Luther recant and likewise received a refusal, after which he declared Luther an outlaw. Courtiers of Elector Frederick of Saxony, at their master's request, secretly placed Luther in Wartburg Castle. There he began translating the Bible into German; until then it had existed only in Latin. In 1525 Luther married Katharina von Bora, a former nun; they had six children.
Luther knew music well: he was familiar with its history and theory, and in his letters and works he referred to medieval and Renaissance treatises. His favourite composers were Josquin Desprez and Ludwig Senfl. Luther regarded music as an important and integral part of the renewed worship, and he wrote about this in prefaces to songbooks that appeared in 1524, 1528, 1542 and 1545. He also wrote another preface, in German verse and titled Frau Musica, to a poem by Johann Walter, Lob und Preis der löblichen Kunst Musica, published in Wittenberg in 1538.
In reforming the service, Luther introduced congregational singing of strophic songs in German, later called by the general name of the Protestant chorale. He wanted as many songs as possible in the people's own language to be sung during the mass, including right after the gradual and after the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. From 1523, presumably, he took a direct part in assembling the new repertoire himself: he wrote verses, most often reworking Latin church and secular models, and chose melodies for them, both original and anonymous, including some from the repertoire of the Catholic Church. For the collection of funeral songs (1542), for instance, he kept beautiful melodies that had earlier been sung at vigils, requiem masses and burials, but gave them other texts.
Luther aimed at simple and accessible worship, so he made the new congregational singing strictly diatonic, with minimal melismas and mostly syllabic, one note to a syllable. Gregorian chant, by contrast, is rich in melisma and requires professional singers.
The first collection of four-part chorale settings, the Little Book of Spiritual Songs, appeared in Wittenberg in 1524. It included some church songs written by Luther with the active participation of Johann Walter. Luther explained that he chose four voices for the sake of young people: they would have to learn music, and he wanted to give them something useful and pleasant in place of love songs. In that same year, 1524, chorales that tradition attributes to Luther were also printed in single-voice collections in Nuremberg and Erfurt.
The best known chorales composed by Luther himself are Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God") and Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her. The first was written between 1527 and 1529. For the second, Luther wrote the verses in 1535 to the tune of a minstrel song, Ich komm' aus fremden Landen her, and in 1539 he composed his own melody for them. In all, about 30 chorales are attributed to Luther. How large his personal contribution to the music of the Protestant Church was has been reconsidered repeatedly over the centuries and remains debated.
Two works by Luther are important for understanding the reform of worship: the Formula missae (1523) and the German Mass (1525—1526). They set out two forms of the service, Latin and German, which did not exclude each other: Latin chants could be combined with the German chorale within one service. The mass and the offices inherited from the Catholics, above all vespers with the Magnificat, were sung both to the standard Latin texts and in German. In small towns and villages worship was held entirely in German, while in large towns with Latin schools and universities a mixed service was the norm. Luther did not object to musical instruments in church, the organ in particular.
In 1529 Luther compiled the Large and Small Catechisms, and in 1537 the Schmalkaldic Articles. In the last years of his life he suffered from chronic illnesses, and he died in 1546 in Eisleben, the same place where he was born.
Luther's musical legacy is church songs in German. He wrote verses, most often reworking Latin church and secular models, and chose melodies for them, both his own and others', including some from the repertoire of the Catholic Church. Luther's hymns had a wide influence on the later development of church singing in the main Protestant churches. About 30 chorales in all are attributed to him.
The style of these songs is shaped by the wish to make singing accessible to everyone. The melodies are strictly diatonic with few melismas, and the text is set mostly one note to a syllable, so that the whole congregation could sing, not only trained choristers. The first four-part settings appeared in 1524; Luther explained that he made them for young people who would have to learn music. The best known chorales are Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott and Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her.
Luther knew music treatises well and quoted them, and his favourite composers were Josquin Desprez and Ludwig Senfl. In 1538 he wrote, in Latin, a preface to a collection of motets by various composers, "Pleasant Harmonies… for 4 Voices", published by the German publisher Georg Rau. This preface later became known as the Praise of Music (Encomion musices). In the same year he wrote a German verse preface, Frau Musica, to a poem by Johann Walter, Lob und Preis der löblichen Kunst Musica. He also wrote prefaces to songbooks by different publishers (1524, 1528, 1542 and 1545), in which he spoke about the role of music in worship.
Luther did not discard the old melodies, however. In the preface to the collection of funeral songs (1542) he wrote that he had kept beautiful melodies used under the papacy but given them new texts, and he abolished the requiem mass and other elaborate rites connected with burials. The mass and the offices inherited from the Catholics were sung both to the standard Latin texts and in German. His two works on worship, the Formula missae and the German Mass, allowed Latin chants alongside the German chorale, and he did not object to musical instruments in church, the organ in particular.
The site has two choral pieces by Luther for mixed choir (SATB): Ein' Feste Burg (hymntune) at the Beginner+ level and Luther at the intermediate level. One can start with the first and then move on to the second.