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Larry Rootes
The eminent Lutheran liturgical scholar of the first part of this century Luther D. Reed writes: ''Luther not only taught the German people to sing in church but led the way in a significant development of German culture and expression.''1Dr. Reed's statement typifies a common notion expressed by many theologians and musicians that Luther was not only the first major user but also the Father of vernacular and especially German vernacular hymnody. In more recent times, particularly in the last decade or so, musicologists have attempted to show that statements such as these expressed by Reed are incorrect, and I have discovered that there was a rich tradition of vernacular hymnody alive in Germany and that the congregation also participated in hymn singing during public worship services (i.e. the Mass) prior to Luther. The better concept of Luther's use of vernacular hymns would be that he simply built on a musical tradition already known and loved by the German people. It must also be remembered as Reed himself said that ''The Lutheran Church in Germany in the 16th century regarded itself as the legitimate heir to the liturgical and musical culture of the Medieval centuries and the conserver of all that was good and pureand beautiful in the great tradition of faith, worship and life of Western Christendom.''2
Vernacular hymn singing, especially in German has a long tradition. Under the heading of ''German Hymns,'' Willi Apel in The Harvard Dictionary of Music tells us that ''[l]ong before any other nation, the Germans began to sing hymns in their native language.''3This ideal is equally shared by the eminent North American musicologist Robert Marshall when he states: ''During the later Middle Ages, when congregational participation gradually disappeared from most parts of Western Europe, such practices
1 The Lutheran Liturgy, Luther D. Reed (Muhlenburg Press: Philadelphia,Pa., 1947), p. 86.
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actually increased in German-speaking regions. Between the...