Rezension von: Michael Happe (Hg.): „Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott“ – Volkstümliche Reformatorenverehrung im 19. Jahrhundert

Michael Happe (Hg.): „Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott“ – Volkstümliche Reformatorenverehrung im 19. Jahrhundert. Mitteilungen aus dem Hohenloher Freilandmuseum Wackershofen, Nr. 26, 2017. 210 S., zahlreiche Abb.

Vom "revolutionären Te Deum" zur "Marseiller Hymne der Reformation"

Die kommunikative Funktion und die daraus resultierende kulturhistorische Relevanz musikalischer Zitate werden anhand politischer und religiöser Liedzitate in Intrumentalwerken des 19. Jahrhunderts näher beleuchtet. Nach einer systematischen Annäherung an Begriff und Phänomen des Zitats in der Musik wird im historischen Hauptteil zunächst den Ursachen für die starke Zunahme von Zitaten im frühen 19. Jahrhundert nachgegangen. Sodann werden am Beispiel von Mendelssohns "Reformationssymphonie" und anderen Werken, die den Luther-Choral "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" zitieren, die Bedeutungsvielfalt und auch das strukturelle Innovationspotenzial von Zitaten in der Instrumentalmusik aufgezeigt. Ausgehend von den bei diesen Werken aufgetretenen Rezeptionsproblemen wird abschließend erörtert, weshalb Instrumentalwerke mit religiösen und politischen Liedzitaten schon im 19. Jahrhundert an die Peripherie des Musikdiskurses gerieten und auch in der Forschung bislang eher geringe Beachtung fanden.

Martin Luther: music and mission

This article seeks to demonstrate Martin Luther's often-overlooked credentials as a musician. Luther was convinced that music was the viva voce evangelii (living voice of the gospel), and unlike other more radical Reformation movements, he encouraged the use of choral and congregational singing in worship. Some of his familiar hymns – Nun freut euch, Ein’ feste Burg and Aus tiefer Not – offer insights into his ambitions to embed congregational singing into his vision of reformed worship, which went hand in hand with liturgical reform. Luther's Formula Missae and the vernacular Deutsche Messe lay the groundwork for Lutheran worship, which restructured the service around the centrality of the gospel proclamation. Luther's musical tradition reached its zenith in the work of J. S. Bach, which continues to echo in the Western musical canon, leaving Luther with a lasting musical legacy.

‘Mountains Moved into the Sea’: The Western Reception of Psalm 46:1 and 3 [45:1 and 3 LXX] From the Septuagint to Luther

When Martin Luther wrote his famous hymn Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott in the 1520s, it was uncommon to understand Ps. 46:1–3 [45:1–3 LXX] as a celebration of the peace available to those taking refuge in God amidst raging hostility—as the earth shook and mountains moved into the heart of the sea. Instead, for over a millennium, Augustine’s allegorical interpretation of verse 3 held sway. These verses contained ‘hidden’ truths made known when Christ came, so the shaking earth was the Jews, the mountains were Christ and his apostles, and the sea was the Gentiles in 46:3. According to Augustine, then, 46:1–3 celebrates God’s being a refuge amidst the working out of his plan to redeem the Gentiles through the mission of Christ and his apostles. This essay recounts the reception of 46:1–3 from the Septuagint to the time of Luther in a way that demonstrates the influence of the Septuagint’s translation of the superscription (verse 1), the dominance of Augustine’s allegorical interpretation of 46:1–3 for over a millennium, and how Luther’s growing appreciation of the historical sense shifts his interpretation of 46:1–3 away from Augustine to align with most interpreters in the early church and Nicholas of Lyra.

Songwriting and Chorale by Martin Luther

The five hundreth anniversary that we commemorated in 2017 is a good opportunity to remind the significance of vocal works by Martin Luther. Creative musical activity of Dr. Martin Luther is somehow in the shadow of his other historically significant activities. It is a well-known fact that he was an outstanding musician who could play lute and could sing. In his household, he constantly played music and sang, while he actively engaged his family in performing music. In performing the reformatory ideas, he was aware of the extremely important role of religious singing, which he started composing since 1523. He is the author of 38 songs – chorales, while at the same time, he is the author of 20 melodies. In most cases, he used the texts of the Psalms. From his chorals the best known is entitled Ein feste Burg is unser Gott – The Fortified Castle is the Lord our God, that became worldwide the anthem of the Protestants. Luther have become an important inspirational source for the next generation of composers, and they culminated in the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, including the works of contemporary Slovak composers – Roman Berger, Víťazoslav Kubička. The prevailing majority of Lutheran chorales is also the part of the Protestant Songbook in Slovakia.

Ein Bach-Autograph als Geschenk einer polnischen Pianistin

Der Artikel setzt sich mit der Provenienz eines in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) verwahrten Bach-Manuskripts mit einem Fragment der Kantate Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80 auseinander, das sich unter anderem in Besitz der polnischen Pianistin Maria Szymanowska befunden hatte. Dieser widmen sich einige biografische Ausführungen.