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The Reformation was a seismic event in European religious and cultural history. The Augustinian monk Martin Luther brought about huge changes to religious and daily life. One area that saw particularly vivid change was the music being performed in churches. Read on…<\/p>
The Reformation was a religious, political and cultural upheaval that split Catholic Europe in the 16th century. It began in the German town of Wittenberg in October 1517 with the publication of Martin Luther\u2019s \u201895 Theses\u2019 protesting at the Pope\u2019s sale of \u2018indulgences\u2019 (offering time off from penance), followed later by Luther\u2019s wholesale rejection of the power of the papacy.<\/p>
Christians should, he said, be free to follow their faith through the teachings of the Gospel. This led to new forms of worship and a growing Lutheran church galvanised by Luther\u2019s writings, widely circulated through the new power of the printing press.<\/p>
By the second half of the 16th century, Lutheranism had become the state religion throughout much of Germany. The key ideas of the Reformation \u2013 a call to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, rather than tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority \u2013 inspired reforms across Europe, putting Henry VIII<\/a><\/strong> in a stronger position as regards the English Reformation, and encouraging the more extreme views of John Calvin in Switzerland.<\/p> There were, in effect, several Reformations, triggering wars, persecutions and ultimately the so-called Counter-Reformation almost 30 years later, the Catholic Church\u2019s tardy but powerful response to the Protestants which, from the mid-16th century, saw the Catholic church grow more spiritual, literate and educated.<\/p> Martin Luther (1483-1547) was an Augustinian monk and theologian who took a stand against the Roman Church, reputedly nailing his 95 objections to Catholic excesses to the doors of All Saints\u2019 Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517.<\/p> After eventually breaking away from Rome, Luther created the climate within his new \u2018reformed\u2019 church for a fresh musical tradition to develop \u2013 one which found its perfect fulfilment in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach<\/a><\/strong>. Some 500 years after Luther\u2019s spiritual reforms, the musical legacy of the Reformation lives on, with a wider reach and greater universal appeal than ever.<\/p> The rather bleak austerity of Protestant reformers like John Calvin<\/a><\/strong> and Huldrych Zwingli in Switzerland has rubbed off a little on Martin Luther\u2019s posthumous reputation. But while Calvin and Zwingli were suspicious of music, either banning it entirely or limiting its use in church, Luther \u2018always loved music\u2019.<\/p> He was, by his own admission, an enthusiastic singer, lutenist and composer who delighted in the finest polyphonic music<\/a><\/strong> of the age. He particularly admired his contemporary Josquin Desprez<\/a><\/strong> (c1455-1521), who \u2018preached the Gospel through music\u2019 with \u2018compositions which flow freely, gently, and cheerfully, are not cramped by the rules, and are like the song of the finch\u2019.<\/p>
Who was Martin Luther?<\/h2>
How Luther’s Reformation influenced music<\/h2>