Final

Martin Luther

• German theologian who studied to become a Catholic priest

• believed that religious authoirty was derived by Scripture alone and challenged the authoirty of the Church

• Martin Luther read the New Testament epistles by Paul and found that no amount of human merit could offer salvation, only the grace of God could 

The Catholic Church in the 16th century

• in the 16th century, the Catholic church had abuses of money and political power

• the rise of humanism and the emphasis on independent thought inevitably led to doubts and arguments that would challenge the Catholic church

the rise of humanism and the emphasis on independent thought inevitably led to

doubts and arguments that would challenge the catholic church

indulgences

allowed wealthy sinners to ease their journey to Heaven by paying money to the Catholic church

justification by grace through faith

• Romans 3:22-24

• Ephesians 2:8-9

the reformation

• Luther wrote a list of grievances he had with the Catholic Church called the 95 Thesis in 1517

• such views did not sit well with the established Catholic Church and Luther was declared a heretic.

  • His writings were used as evidence against him when he was excommunicated in 1520

• Luther did not originally intend to divide the Catholic church, but to reform it from within 

Luther the musician

• strong musical background from childhood

• he was a choirboy and he played the lute

Luther’s view on music 

music is:

1. a divine gift

2. effective on emotions

3. a pedagogical tool 

Music: a divine gift

• Luther believed music to be a divine gift to humanity, second only to the Word of God

• Luther believed the human desire to participate in musical activity is not so much the need for self-expression, rather it is a longing for and a reflection of a relationship with the Creator

Luther believed music to be

a divine gift to humanity, second only to the Word of God

Luther believed the human desire to participate in musical activity is not so much the need for self-expression, rather it is

a longing for and a reflection of a relationship with the Creator

music as a pedagogical tool:

• Luther believed music was a gift from God that could teach divine truth both to listeneres and performers

Luther: a musical composition is

a “sermon in sound”

mysic teaches both directlly and indirectly

• moves the listeners to aa receptive state for the Word

• lends the associated text a greater measure of emphasis and potency

• a spoken text might be understood intellectually, but music offers the affection and expression

Chorales

• Luther did not like how the Catholic church was excluding the common person through its insistence on the use of Latin rather than the language of the people

• he created strophic hymns for congregational and devotional singing that is in the vernacular

• Contrafactum = the practice of replacing the original words of a song with new ones

contrafactum

the practice of replacing the original words of a song with new ones 

Calvin

• was a reformer and rejected the authority of the Catholic church

• believed in justification through faith alone

• believed in predestination

• wanted to focus on God alone and therefore stripped the church and liturgy of anything that can serve as a distraction

Luther vs. Calvin

Luther:

• if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is allowed

  • new text in music

  • instruments allowed

  • polyphony allowed

Calvin:

• if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is not allowed

  • text in music from the bible

  • no instruments allowed

  • no polyphony allowed

Luther vs. Calvin: Luther

if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is allowed

• new text in music

• instruments allowed

• polyphony allowed

Luther vs. Calvin: Calvin

if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is not allowed

• text in music from the bible

• no instruments allowed

• no polyphony allowed

metrical psalm

metric and strophic singing of psalms in the vernacular

Church of England

• King Henry VII wanted an annulment of his marriage so he can marry someone else, but the pope said no

• King Henry VIII separate from Rome and started a new Church of England

• would eventually adopt English as their main language of their liturgy

Thomas Tallis

English composer who served in the chapel under leaders from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I

William Byrd

• served in the chapel in the Church of England (although he personally was a Catholic)

• composed secular vocal and instrumental music as well as sacred music

the counter-reformation

• Pope Paul III brought in a culture of simplicity and abstinence of worldly pleasures to the Catholic church

  • the Council of Trent marks the start of the counter-reformation

• the Catholic Church was formerly known for its excess

Palestrina

• late Renaissance composer fo the Roman Catholic Church

• wrote primarily sacred music