Schalk’s premise is that while Bach is often considered the culmination of Lutheran church music in the 18th century, there was a period of 150 years before Bach that paved the way for the climate that he encountered. In other words, Bach did not just arrive on the scene and say “I have arrived.”

Schalk reviews the life and musical works of seven influential Lutheran musicians in the 150 years after the Reformation.

• Johann Walter: First Cantor of the Lutheran Church
• Georg Rhau: Printer of Early Reformation Music
• Hans Leo Hassler: Herald of the Transition to the “New Style”
• Michael Praetorius: Conservator of the Chorale
• Johann Hermann Schein” Cantor of St. Thomas, Leipzig
• Samuel Scheidt: Musician of Halle
• Heinrich Schuetz: Tone Poet of Saxony

While I knew a little bit about Walter, Rhau, and Schuetz, it was enlightening to understand their background and the roots of Lutheran music and see the kinds of music they composed. For example, during the Thirty Years War Schuetz’s compositions became simpler — just a couple vocal parts, several instruments, and basso continuo to account for more limited musical resources and financial support.

From a practical standpoint, Schalk suggests that examining these Lutheran composers and their theological ideas “may well be the first step to approaching more realistically and faithfully the problems and questions which continue to vex the musical and liturgical life of today’s church” (12). His conclusions show that they still have something to teach us — even if their music has been forgotten by many in the church.

• All were musicians highly trained in their art and craft.
• All were musicians involved, in varying degrees, in the secular musical life of their day.
• All–with the exception of Johann Walter and Georg Rhau–were musicians who wrestled in various ways with the challenges and implications of a “new” musical style for the church.
• All were musicians who found the liturgy and the worship of God’s people to be the most natural and appropriate context for the greater part of their music.
• All of these musicians were influential teachers. (181-183)

What was immediately striking to me in this volume was Schalk’s dedication to Walter Buszin and Paul Bunjes. In Buszin’s biography published by the Good Shepherd Institute, it is noted that Buszin had hoped to publish a collection of eleven essays on the significant composers of the “Golden Age” of Lutheranism from 1524 to 1750 — a collection that bears a resemblance of sorts to Schalk’s book (they would have five composers in common). While CPH had initially agreed with the idea, they abandoned it fearing insufficient sales. CPH — there’s still time to finish the project.

Even though CPH never published the book, it is still possible, by using the Buszin bibliography, to nearly recreate the collection that Buszin envisioned (10 of the 11 articles). With the help of my local library’s interlibrary loan department and some article archives on the Good Shepherd Institute’s website, I was able to acquire all the articles EXCEPT for the one on Heinrich Schuetz, which is unpublished. If anyone happens to have a copy of it, I’d love to add it to my collection.

To sum it all up: It’s a worthwhile experience to study the early Lutheran musicians and their understanding of church music. This could certainly be an opportunity for reflection in our own day.

Thanks for reading Pre-Bach: Shaping the Tradition.

As I recall, Kantor Resch referred to the hymn introduction as an “Invitation to Sing.” If the introduction is “blah”, the singing will be “blah” as well. The “invitation” by the organist gives a foretaste of what is to come. One of the primary responsibilities of the organist is to engage God’s people in song.

Sometimes the introduction will be playing the entire hymn through once. Sometimes it will be the first and last music phrases. For me this can get a bit repetitive and rather uncreative. More often than not I will either improvise an introduction, use an introduction from one of the organ books in my library, or repurpose a portion of an organ piece from another composer.

The idea for this blog post came after a number of people from church over the last week complimented me on the introductions and accompaniments for a number of the hymns. I was told they were creative, engaging, and reflective of the texts. I can’t take credit for them all — some of them were my own improvisations, but a number of them came from the works of Carl Schalk, Jeffrey Blersch, and Kevin Hildebrand. If any of you organist’s out there do not have Hildebrand’s newest organ collection, Bethlehem’s Rose – 12 Easy Chorale Preludes, get it for the 2008 Christmas season.

P.S. I do not work for or get any commissions from Concordia Publishing House. I just happen to use a lot of the organ music that they publish.

Thanks for reading Invitation to Sing.