Michael Praetorius's Theology of Music in Syntagma Musicum I (1615): a Politically and Confessionally Motivated Defense of Instruments in the Lutheran Liturgy
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MICHAEL PRAETORIUS'S THEOLOGY OF MUSIC IN SYNTAGMA MUSICUM I (1615): A POLITICALLY AND CONFESSIONALLY MOTIVATED DEFENSE OF INSTRUMENTS IN THE LUTHERAN LITURGY Zachary Alley A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC August 2014 Committee: Arne Spohr, Advisor Mary Natvig ii ABSTRACT Arne Spohr, Advisor The use of instruments in the liturgy was a controversial issue in the early church and remained at the center of debate during the Reformation. Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), a Lutheran composer under the employment of Duke Heinrich Julius of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, made the most significant contribution to this perpetual debate in publishing Syntagma musicum I—more substantial than any Protestant theologian including Martin Luther. Praetorius's theological discussion is based on scripture, the discourse of early church fathers, and Lutheran theology in defending the liturgy, especially the use of instruments in Syntagma musicum I. In light of the political and religious instability throughout Europe it is clear that Syntagma musicum I was also a response—or even a potential solution—to political circumstances, both locally and in the Holy Roman Empire. In the context of the strengthening counter-reformed Catholic Church in the late sixteenth century, Lutheran territories sought support from Reformed church territories (i.e., Calvinists). This led some Lutheran princes to gradually grow more sympathetic to Calvinism or, in some cases, officially shift confessional systems. In Syntagma musicum I Praetorius called on Lutheran leaders—prince-bishops named in the dedication by territory— specifically several North German territories including Brandenburg and the home of his employer in Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, to maintain Luther's reforms and defend the church they were entrusted to protect, reminding them that their salvation was at stake. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the tremendous support of my advisor, Dr. Arne Spohr, whose own passion for this topic and breadth of knowledge led me to previously unexplored territories. The time spent advising me throughout the planning, writing, and editing stages, as well as providing invaluable translations of the limited secondary literature, made this project not only feasible, but rewarding and enjoyable. Thank you, also, to Dr. Mary Natvig for joining the committee and offering expertise regarding the fine points of writing on a "music and theology" topic. I extend thanks and appreciation to Reverend Jeffrey Odgren (my father-in-law) for his guidance through the theological discussion of the parable from Matthew in the final chapter of this thesis. Finally, thank you to my wife, Emily, who can recite this thesis from memory due to her patient support and inability to escape the proximity of our home office. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT ....................................................................... 4 CHAPTER II. MICHAEL PRAETORIUS: COMPOSER, THEOLOGIAN, THEORIST . 8 CHAPTER III. SYNTAGMA MUSICUM I-III: AN ATTEMPT TO PRESERVE, PROMOTE, AND ELEVATE INSTRUMENTS AND MUSICIANS ................................ 11 The Content of Syntagma musicum I: An Overview .............................................. 13 CHAPTER IV. POLITICAL AND CONFESSIONAL ANXIETY AND THE DEDICATION OF SYNTAGMA MUSICUM I .................................................................... 17 CHAPTER V. LUTHER'S VIEWS ON INSTRUMENTS ................................................ 30 CHAPTER VI. SYNTAGMA MUSICUM I: A THEOLOGICAL DEFENSE OF INSTRUMENTS .................................................................................................................. 37 Section I: Music in Worship ................................................................................... 37 Section IV: Liturgical Instruments .......................................................................... 40 CHAPTER VII. PRAETORIUS'S MUSICAL THEOLOGY IN PRACTICE ................... 52 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme from Polyhymnia Caduceatrix et Panegyrica ..... 54 CONCLUSION ........ ............................................................................................................ 65 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 68 APPENDIX A. WACHET AUF SCORE EXCERPTS ........................................................ 75 APPENDIX B. TITLE PAGES .......................................................................................... 81 v LIST OF FIGURES AND EXAMPLES Figure Page 1 Figure 1: Alternative performance options for Wachet auf ....................................... 59 Example Page 1 Example 1: Praetorius's Wachet auf from Polyhymnia (1619), mm 32-34 ............... 62 1 INTRODUCTION The liturgical use of musical instruments was highly disputed in the liturgy of the early church because it was seen as potentially distracting from the core of worship—instruments were associated with paganism or considered icons.1 The most important early church figures, including Saints Justin Martyr (100-165), Basil of Caesarea (329-379), Aurelius Ambrose (340- 397), and Aurelius Augustine (354-430) contributed to this discussion, offering theological discourse and personal spiritual accounts rejecting or defending the use of instruments.2 This discussion became a crucial element of debate in the Reformation. Michael Praetorius (1571- 1621)—a highly educated German composer and music theorist who studied Latin, Greek, theology, and philosophy in school and at university, and whose father was a pastor who studied in Wittenberg in the late 1520s and worked directly with Martin Luther's musical advisor Johann Walter—published his three-volume work Syntagma musicum, the first volume of which (1615)3 offered a significant contribution to this debate. Praetorius's position at the court of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel under Duke Heinrich Julius (1564-1613)—one of the most powerful 1 See, for instance, James W. McKinnon's article "The Meaning of the Patristic Polemic Against Musical Instruments," Current Musicology I (1965), 69-82. McKinnon wrote that "the vehemence of the polemic against instruments is primarily accounted for by the association of musical instruments with sexual immorality, an issue on which third- and fourth-century Church Fathers were extremely sensitive." Instruments were associated with dancing, obscene songs, and drunkenness, and the early church responded with strict ecclesiastical legislation which resulted in denying baptism to those who played instruments "until they renounced their trade." This viewpoint is not exclusive, though. It is possible, even likely, that the early church made use of instruments on a regular basis, as Leslie Korrick has argued in response to McKinnon's article in "Instrumental Music in the Early 16th-Century Mass: New Evidence," Early Music, 18 (1990): 359-362. 2 These figures are repeatedly referenced throughout Syntagma musicum I and will be discussed throughout this thesis. A survey of materials, especially of Augustine and Basil can be found in Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, editors, Music in the Western World: A History in Documents, Part II The Middle Ages, Belmont, CA: Schirmer Books, 1984. 3 It has been argued that, due to printing errors and other mistakes, the actual date is 1615, not 1614/15 in Dietlind Möller-Weiser, Untersuchungen zum I. Band des Syntagma Musicum von Michael Praetorius, (Kassel; New York: Bärenreiter, 1993), 12-22. 2 Protestant princes within the Holy Roman Empire, and one who was deeply involved in Imperial politics4—gave him the leverage and status needed to be taken seriously in this context. The prince's wife Elizabeth was the sister of Danish King Christian IV, who considered himself protector of Lutheranism within the larger framework of European politics.5 Praetorius's close proximity to powerful Protestant leadership in northern Germany and his extensive education and personal Lutheran conviction, made him highly qualified to produce a treatise on liturgical music practices. Syntagma musicum I was an attempt made to define Lutheran sacrality and establish conclusively which liturgical rituals, especially regarding musical instruments, were useful and ecclesiastical. In an effort to establish new, and reestablish old, pious practices, and to rekindle the True Church,6 Praetorius dug down to the foundation in an attempt to rebuild that which, in his view, had been tainted by papal corruption and abandoned by Reformed churches and some Lutherans with reforms established after Martin Luther. Syntagma musicum I provides a close examination of historical liturgical practices and defends the use of instruments as an ecclesiastical form of worship. He had two primary goals in mind: first, to "present and explain piously all the types of songs, organs, and other instruments hallowed for the liturgical rites [which are] pleasing to God and useful to the public, and [to discuss their] use at gatherings of the church, both in 4 Hilda Lietzmann, Herzog Heinrich Julius zur Braunschweig und Lüneburg, 1564-1613: Persönlichkeit und Wirken für Kaiser und Reich, (Braunschweig: Selbstverlag des Braunschweigischen Geschichtsvereins, 1993). 5 See, for instance, Mara R. Wade,