Congregational Singing in Catholicism before the Reformation
The Catholic Church for centuries until the reformation were singing in Organum, that is, polyphonic singing in chant in parallel fourths, fifths, or octaves. The Church especially sang from the Gregorian Chant tradition. These traditions were sung primarily by monks, by a boys’ choir, or by a well-trained adult choir, but never by the congregation. The most the congregation would sing would be a short responsive, for example, Kyrie eleison. Mid to Late Middle Ages introduced a new type of congregational singing into the church, German Vernacular Congregational singing, which sparked interest in some churches in Germany. It was not widespread. It is also not well known to us as to what the actual size of the congregation’s repertoire is.[1] This tradition is was primarily responsive, as before, hearing the prayers and music from the priest in their vernacular German tongue and responding in the German form of the Latin Kyrie, “Christe keinado, kyrieleison, and die heiligen alla helfent uns, kyrie eleison.”[2] Oftentimes there would be the occasional hymn, though this would be far less common and it is unknown as to the whereabouts in Germany this was. We do know that some of these hymns were for high holidays and sung in the German vernacular as part of the liturgy.
The Roman Catholic Mass had a long tradition of organizing a precise framework that was untouched from the time of Antioch. They kept everything in the Latin to keep everything within the exact same rite, word by word. This also had a theological implication to it in having one unified voice throughout the world. This theology dates to the fourth century Church Fathers.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was first a Catholic Priest. He lived and breathed Catholic music and the Catholic Mass until his thirties. “Luther was not as revolutionary as people claim him to be…He was developing a concurrent philosophy related to the meaning and forms of theological expression.”[3]
When he started reforming the church, it happened naturally for him. At first, he was just preaching the gospel based on his beliefs from what he saw in his time in Rome. Then everyone called him a heretic. During his time as a professor, he published his 95 Theses on October 31 of 1517. The Pope excommunicated him, and so Luther publicly excommunicated him back. Then the Emperor excommunicated him. Things continued to escalate once Luther attacked the Catholic Church furiously about their system of seven sacraments in the Babylonian Captivity of the Church treatise. Luther instead claimed for there to be three sacraments: baptism, penance, and the eucharist.[4]
The defense of the sacraments is a big element in wanting to change specific aspects of a church service, because the Catholic mass by definition is partaking in the sacrament of the Eucharist. His biggest topics of interest that are noted in the new German Mass are matters of the cup not to be withheld, transubstantiation, and viewing the mass as a sacrifice. Though there is a theology of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the altar in Catholicism, there is a double entendre here. As many know, the medieval Catholic tradition took the opportunity of the mass to take the peoples means of good work and sacrifice, thus having all the people sacrifice their own wallets, stealing away the wealth of many who were unable to afford anything.
German Hymns
If there is anything that Luther loved, it was music. Luther played music all his life. He sought out music in the church for educational purposes, theological purposes, as well as spiritual. He said, “music is next to theology,” in which he believed that music was the highest level of esteem along with theology. Luther said, “This is the reason why the prophets did not make use of any art except music; when setting forth their theology they did not as geometry, not as arithmetic, not as astronomy, but as music, so that they held theology and music most tightly connected and proclaimed truth through Psalms and songs.”[5] That is why Luther held hymns at such a high regard.
Martin Luther not only had an appreciation for them, but he was a well apt composer as well. He was a big fan of polyphony, especially of artist Josquin des Prez, drawing a lot of inspiration of Prez’s counterpoint into his hymns and psalms. Luther enjoyed writing music with at least three to five vocal parts to be added to a melody. One correspondence Luther wrote to Agoritha Luther in 1530 speaks of his composition adding a fourth voice after feeling bored.[6] All of his music remained within the traditional modes of the Latin chants. There are many well-known hymns of his that are in Dorian, Mixolydian, Phrigian, Ionian, and even Hypolydian. Luther started his journey with hymns with singing the psalms as a monk. As a monk he had to sing through all the offices, and therefore, all of the 150 Psalms.[7] When he started arranging some of his own, he was doing so in the German vernacular, using rhymes, common time meter, notable rhythms, even eight bar phrases. He was putting in a secular form of musicianship in a holy religious text from the Old and New Testaments alike. His favorites to work with were the Psalms, but he was noted for writing works of all kinds.
He was very particular about how the text should be written. The text should have words that are easy for the congregation to understand, avoiding any new words or large theological terms. Only the simplest and most common words amongst the vernacular.[8] They should be as close and succinct with the psalm, or other original biblical text, as possible, which also still maintaining poetry, musicianship, and piety.
Luther wrote thirty-six hymns. Many are familiar favorites today that we often see in hymn books. His hymns give a bod, confident feeling of joy. They claim Christ as victor, and the bold melodies with strong cadences and deceptive modulations give rise to that. My favorite for certain is “Ein feste burg ist unser Gott” or “A mighty fortress is our God” based upon Psalm 46. You can listen to the original melody in choral form here, along with the original notation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI7QMtXBLgY.[9]
The Catholic Mass to Luther’s Latin Mass
For a man that moved mountains in innovation for history and theology, Martin Luther was a man of traditions when it came to music. That is something that I admire about him. Despite all the changes he made in the church, and despite how much havoc he brought about in Europe, there were some things about him he was unwilling to let go of.
To understand how Martin Luther was able to innovate and adapt the Roman Catholic Mass, into a new Lutheran Latin Mass, and inevitably into a new German mass, it is important to know the layout of the Roman Catholic Mass in sequential order. This was the progress that eventually created new innovations for the Protestant Church that still lives on to this day, I have placed here a chart (left) of the changes from the Catholic Mass. [10]
This is all just an outline, subject to change depending on the service, since there are always changes in rituals depending on location, a veneration of another sacrament such as a wedding or baptism, or new liturgical texts, etc. If you are Catholic, this outline on the left may seem familiar. You may even already know all the prayers. If you are Protestant, like I am, you may be a but more familiar with the formula on the right hand side in the German Mass. Luther ultimately wanted to create a German mass. He started with a Latin mass for his new reformed church, known as the Formulae Missae.[11] He wanted to slowly integrate his congregants from Catholicism to a new kind of worship. Change is easier when it is small and gradual.
The language, as expected, is in Latin, but a few things are omitted: the Offertory, the Secret, and the Canon Major; the reasoning behind this is due to Luther’s objection to the mass as a sacrifice for sins by the priest.[12] “For the same reason, he removes the Post Communion Collect and replaces it with a Thanksgiving Collect.”[13]
A Sermon is put in to preach the gospel in place of the Offertory and Secret. A Secret is a low voiced prayer recited by the priest, usually done right after the Offertory. Luther was all about transparency to the people of God. Having a low voiced prayer that no congregant would be able to hear, in that case, is a way for the congregation to miss out on yet another part of the service. Not only that, sometimes the prayer, if heard at all, was spoken in Latin, and not in the vernacular tongue of the people. Most people did not understand Latin. That is why, instead, there are words that are in place of the Secret that are as transparent and affirming as can be: the Sermon.
A Consecration was also added after the Preface before the Sanctus. The Dismissal is also replaced at the end with a Benediction and Benedicamus. The baptismal rites all remained the same.[14]
The German Mass
After three years of having the Formula Missae in the open, Luther was finally ready to release his Deutche Messe, in 1526. The German Mass was not theologically like the mass of the Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, the priest offers up Christ onto the alter as a sacrifice. Luther’s Mass teaches that Christ already paid the price of the sacrifice once on the cross and we no longer need to re-sacrifice every mass.
This mass was completely in the German vernacular, meaning that the congregation was finally able to understand what was going on during the service. The only people that were skilled in knowing the Latin language were sent to special schools, especially schools for boys who were joining church choirs to be sent into the monastery. Everyone was now able to participate. This meant that the congregation was able to sing during all the church services, not on some occasions, or specific churches in certain locations, but all of them. It allowed for a congregational participation that broke the divide between the priest and the congregation, allowing the alter to come down to the center of the pews. The people were able to participate in a church service with Christ in understanding the words of the bible spoken to them in their own language, prayers spoken in their own language, and learned new lessons in the sermon every week in their own language. It gave a new rise to the people of God, allowing the people of God to understand God more. During the time of the printing press, this was an innovation for people to become excited about scripture and the Word of God. People, for once, were able to read the bible on their own and think for themselves what they thought about God.
Luther made the mass even smaller than the Lutheran Latin mass before, taking out the Gloria, the Sequence, the Serum Corda, the Preface, the Pater Noster, Pax Domini, Agnus Dei, Communion Antiphon, and the Benedicamus (leaving only the Benediction at the very end). In place of the Gradual or Alleluia, Luther opted for a German song. Luther wrote many hymns and adapted many psalms which I am sure he placed in here. In place of the Secret and the Sursum Corda, he placed in a Paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer and exhortation to communicants.[15] Following that is a Consecration with an Elevation, and a distribution while singing.
Luther’s Legacy
This all may seem like a small thing, but the changes that Luther made in the mass gave rise to the most incredible music known to the Western World. It was Luther who placed the vernacular of the people into the church service. That alone serves a big theological purpose to the people of God, but it also created new waves of music. This allowed for all the great artists that came after him. Famous Lutheran composer Johannes Sabastian Bach wrote chorales in German, his native language, for others to understand. Bach was a church musician and was writing new chorales for the church every week. Another famous Lutheran composer, George F. Handel, was primarily an opera singer, but he also wrote many religious works, the most famous being his oratorio of The Messiah. This work of art astounded so many people, that even the King of England stood up in awe during the Hallelujah chorus. Now here we are, hundreds of years later listening to these same pieces of music. This opened doors for new composers, and therefore for new hymns and musical styles within the church. As much as the Catholic Church might hate to hear it, it even affects them, because even the Catholic Church is now in the common vernacular and playing various styles of music. Just 4 years ago I had a gig with my band playing Christian rock adaptations of the Catholic Mass.
Luther brought more than a mass, Luther brought a movement.
Until next time,
Keep practicing,
Keep praying.
-Suzie
[1] Joseph Herl, Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism: Choir, Congregation, and Three Centuries of Conflict, Oxford University Press: (New York, NY, 2004), 28.
[2] Paul Westermeyer, Te Deum: The Church and Music, Fortress Press, (Minneapolis, MN, 1998), 224.
[3] Adam Hough, Illumine, Vol. 11 No. 1 “Martin Luther and Musically Expressed Theology,” 30-31.
[4] Martin Luther, Edited by Paul W. Robinson, The Annotated Luther: Church and Sacraments, “Babylonian Captivity of the Church,” Augsburg Fortress Publishers, (2016). 21.
[5] Robin A. Leaver, Luther’s Liturgical Music: Principles and Implications, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, (Grand Rapids, MI, 2007), 65.
[6] Leaver, Luther’s Liturgical Music, 57-58.
[7] Scott A Moore, Edited by Mark A. Lamport, Benjamin K. Forrest, and Vernon M. Whaley, Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions, Vol. 2 From Catholic Europe to Protestant Europe, Cascade Books: (Eugene, Oregon, 2019), 20.
[8] Moore, Hymns and Hymnary, 24.
[9] Martin Luther, “Martin Luther—Ein Feste Burg Chorale Melody,” Devin Burke, January 9, 2016, 1:40, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI7QMtXBLgY.
[10] Herl, Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism, 29.
[11] Herl, Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism, 28.
[12] Herl, Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism, 28.
[13] Herl, Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism, 28.
[14] James F. White, Protestant Worship: Traditions in Transition, John Knox Press, (Louisville, KY, 1989), 42.
[15] Herl, Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism, 29.
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