The Classical Music Book

78

W

hen, in 1517, Martin

Luther penned the

95 theses that would

trigger the Reformation, his main

objections had little to do with

music: they rather concerned

the selling of indulgences and the

question of papal authority. As

the Reformation got underway,

however, church music was to be

profoundly affected. For centuries,

singing in church had been the

preserve of monks and trained

singers and, being in Latin, it was

incomprehensible to the average

person in the congregation.

Luther placed particular

emphasis on congregational

participation and on the use of the

vernacular, so that everyone could

understand what they were hearing

and singing. The chorale—a

congregational hymn—was key

to this. Luther himself composed

many of the earliest chorales, of

which perhaps the most famous is

his Ein feste Burg, based on Psalm

46—“A mighty fortress is our God,

a tower of strength never failing.”

By the Baroque period, chorale

melodies formed the basis for

many different genres of music in

the Lutheran church. One of these

was the chorale prelude, a short

organ piece to introduce the melody

of the chorale so that people would

know what tune to sing.

Signature trait

The chief pioneer of the chorale

prelude was Dieterich Buxtehude.

His practice was to present the

chorale melody in an ornamented

version in one single upper voice,

projected by the right hand on a

separate manual (organ keyboard),

while the left hand and pedals

provided an accompaniment,

normally on softer-sounding stops.

Buxtehude drew some influence

from the works of earlier composers,

such as the keyboard variations of

the Dutch organist Jan Pieterszoon

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Lutheran hymn tunes

BEFORE

1529 Martin Luther composes

the hymn Ein feste Burg.

1624 Samuel Scheidt

publishes his Tablatura nova,

a collection of keyboard

music containing eight sets

of chorale variations.

AFTER

1705 –1706 J.S. Bach walks

from Arnstadt to Lübeck—a

distance of 235 miles (378 km)

to meet and hear Buxtehude.

1726 J.S. Bach completes

the final chorales in his

Orgelbüchlein (“Little Organ

Book”), his largest collection

of chorale preludes.

1830 Felix Mendelssohn

bases the finale of his

“Reformation” Symphony

(No. 5) on Luther’s Ein

feste Burg.

THE OBJECT OF

CHURCHES^ IS NOT THE

BAWLING OF CHORISTERS

CHORALE PRELUDE, EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER

GOTT ( 1690 ), DIETERICH BUXTEHUDE

[I wanted] to comprehend

one thing and another

about his art.

J.S. Bach

US_078-079_Buxtehude.indd 78 27/03/18 4:49 PM