We know mainly of Martin Luther as the monk who, in 1517, tacked up his 95 Theses to the front door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg and touched off the Protestant Reformation, an event that would change the course of European history and world religion forever. Lesser known is Luther's contribution to music, which on a strictly personal level was rather limited, but in its extended forms was gigantic. New faiths require new music, and Luther certainly was not interested in adopting the Latin, chant-based heritage of the ...
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We know mainly of Martin Luther as the monk who, in 1517, tacked up his 95 Theses to the front door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg and touched off the Protestant Reformation, an event that would change the course of European history and world religion forever. Lesser known is Luther's contribution to music, which on a strictly personal level was rather limited, but in its extended forms was gigantic. New faiths require new music, and Luther certainly was not interested in adopting the Latin, chant-based heritage of the Roman church to carry over into his German-language services. Extensively trained in music and a strong devotee to the music of Josquin, it wasn't until 1523 that Luther began to turn his attention to devising music appropriate for use in the first protestant churches. Luther's dictum seems to have been "keep it simple, stupid" -- composing or adapting gracious, folk-like melodies set to German texts derived from biblical passages. These, and similar hymns by others under Luther's...
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