Pre-Reformation playing a
portative organ (cropped from the Altarpiece of the Holy Cross), painted around 1490 to 1495. The bellows can be seen to the right of the pipes. Some churches by this time had
pipe organs, but these were expensive. Other churches used a portative organ, or no organ at all. The Hungarian
duda, a traditional bagpipe, was also used. In the pre-Reformation period began to compile vernacular hymns in hymnals. One of the first hymnals appeared in 1501 with the
Bohemian Brethren. It contained not only translations of Latin songs and
contrafacts of
Czech folk songs but also newly written songs. Even shortly before Luther's day people began to print hymnals. Since then, the history of the hymn has been closely linked to the history of hymnals.
Martin Luther and his environment Among the
Protestant Reformers,
Martin Luther in particular attributed great importance to the vernacular hymn. He aimed at various effects of singing hymns together in vernacular language: • The songs promoted the spread of biblical content and reformatory ideas. • Catechetical songs could be instructive and treat specific theological themes such as
creed or
sacraments. • Formulated as a hymn that, with the help of a memorable melody, could easily be memorized, content was easier to memorize. • Singing together represented common ground and formed a community. • German songs enabled the hitherto essentially passive community to actively participate in the service. • The spiritual effect of music was described by Luther as medicine against evil and despondency. '', Wittenberg, 1523/24 Luther wrote over 30 hymns, including church year songs like "
Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come)", catechism songs like "
Mensch, willst du leben seliglich" (That Man a Godly Life Might Live)" and psalm songs like "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God), as well as table songs in place of spoken
prayers, songs for domestic use (morning blessing and evening blessings ) and liturgical songs. Many of these songs are in the
second person plural and strengthen the early Reformation community. Some of his hymns, such as "
Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet" ("O Lord, We Praise Thee"), "
Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" ("We Now Implore God the Holy Ghost"), "
Christ ist erstanden" ("Christ the Lord is Risen Again"), and "
Mitten wir im Leben sind" ("In Midst of Earthly Life") were based on a medieval leise, which Luther reworked and expanded. Luther also adopted several Gregorian chants and gave them new German texts. With new melodies the singularity always stood in the foreground; often the melodies move in familiar formulas – artistic originality of the melody was of little importance. New melodies were mostly written in collaboration with
Johann Walter. Luther also asked other co-workers for support in creating new hymns. The songs of Luther and his environment were printed on
leaflets. They spread widely and quickly became popular. They formed a pillar of the worship orders: In Lutheran worship, the hymn is an active participation of the church and also may correspond to the sermon as in the
hymn of the day.
Reformed Church , published in Strasburg when
Calvin was a minister there. Calvin's psalters were called "Genevan" due to later editions after Calvin moved to Geneva.
John Calvin rejected all traditions that he did not see justified in the Bible. Unlike
Luther, he was initially dismissive of church music. In Calvinist liturgies, the spoken word had priority. Although being very musical, Zwingli rejected music in worship for a long time. In the Reformed communities of
Zürich, there were no songs in his time. Instrumental music was also excluded. Calvin, who took over the leadership of the Reformed Church after Zwingli's death, had encountered psalm singing in Strasbourg. He put communal singing again under strict musical and lyrical conditions, now called
exclusive psalmody: • Only psalm texts were allowed to be sung.
Versified psalms had to lean closely on the biblical text. • The singing had to be unanimous. • The tunes were not allowed to exceed the size of an
octave. •
Melismas were not allowed. • Only two basic values were allowed for the rhythm (one beat and two beats,
quarter note and half note in today's notation). Rhythmic reassurance at the end of lines was desired. • Every line had to be paused. In this framework, a series of psalm songs emerged, with simple melodies that usually avoided jumps (example: get up in your power, God ). The central hymnbook of the Reformed Church was the
Genevan Psalter, whose final (French) edition appeared in 1562. After Calvin's death, the
four-part ballad was allowed, and with the simple four-part choral movements by
Claude Goudimel, the Geneva Psalter reached a wide spread in the Reformed churches.
Sigmund Hemmel set to music in the Württemberg Reformation, first around 1560 the entire Psalter for four voices in German psalm seals of various authors. The translation of
Ambrosius Lobwasser soon became for over two hundred years the authoritative hymnbook of the Reformed communities in Germany.
Hymn boards were used to help people keep track of which page to use in the hymnal, with the earliest documentation of them coming from 1550 in Geneva.
Anabaptists Even
Thomas Müntzer, who had introduced a reformatory German-language liturgy before Luther, wrote new hymns. Müntzer relied mainly on well-known Gregorian melodies, which he translated into German. Some of his songs, such as his translation of the Latin
Conditor alme siderum can be found today in both Catholic and Protestant hymnals. In the context of the
Radical Reformation movement, new hymns were created. Particularly noteworthy is the first printed in 1564 Anabaptist hymn book
Ausbund, which was used until the 19th century in southern German
Mennonites and even today in the
Amish in North America. The core of the hymn book was 51 songs whose authorship is unknown save that they were all written between 1535 and 1540 by Anabaptists in the dungeon of the
Veste Oberhaus castle. They were mostly sung to folk melodies. Also popular was
Das schön Gesangbüchlein from 1565, which contained 122 songs. Known Anabaptist songwriters include
Felix Manz, one of the co-founders of the first Anabaptist church in 1525, as well as
Michael Sattler,
Hans Hut,
Leonhard Schiemer and
George Blaurock. Some churches of Anabaptist heritage today still practice the
lining out of hymns. OHM - Darstellung Stadt Passau 4 Oberhaus.jpg|14th century painting of the Veste Oberhaus castle Veste_Oberhaus_1.jpg|Veste Oberhaus today Gesangbuch der Täufer Ausbund.jpg|
Ausbund title page == Lutheran Orthodoxy and the Counter-Reformation ==