Overview

Martin Luther's relationship to music has been largely downplayed, yet music played a vital role in Luther's life - and he in turn had a deep and lasting effect on Christian hymnody. In Luther's Liturgical Music Robin Leaver comprehensively explores these connections. Replete with tables, figures, and musical examples, this volume is the most extensive study on Luther and music ever published. Leaver's work makes a formidable contribution to Reformation studies, but worship leaders, musicians, and others will also find it an invaluable, very readable resource.

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9780802832214

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Christoph Wolff Harvard University This impressive study of Luther's liturgical music addresses a multiplicity of important aspects. It demonstrates how Luther's experience as a musician and his theological reflections on music form the background to his extensive liturgical reforms, emphasizes the teaching function of congregational hymns, presents a focused and well-rounded picture of the historical foundations of Lutheran church music, and considers the far-reaching consequences of Luther's thoughts and reforms through J. S. Bach. Robin Leaver's fine book will serve as a most welcome compendium on a subject that has never been so expertly treated. Paul Westermeyer Luther Seminary If you want a comprehensive, detailed, and up-to-date summary of Martin Luther's work in relation to music and worship, along with commentary, here it is. Robin Leaver has searched out, organized, and summarized the sources. His extensive footnotes make it possible for others to follow his steps and draw their own conclusions, but what emerges as virtually unassailable is the critical importance of music in Luther's reforming efforts, in the work of his colleagues, and in the Lutheran tradition that followed him. This book helps us understand both Luther and the Lutheran heritage in a clearer and more accurate light.

<b>Christoph Wolff</b> Harvard University This impressive study of Luther's liturgical music addresses a multiplicity of important aspects. It demonstrates how Luther's experience as a musician and his theological reflections on music form the background to his extensive liturgical reforms, emphasizes the teaching function of congregational hymns, presents a focused and well-rounded picture of the historical foundations of Lutheran church music, and considers the far-reaching consequences of Luther's thoughts and reforms through J. S. Bach. Robin Leaver's fine book will serve as a most welcome compendium on a subject that has never been so expertly treated. <b>Paul Westermeyer</b> Luther Seminary If you want a comprehensive, detailed, and up-to-date summary of Martin Luther's work in relation to music and worship, along with commentary, here it is. Robin Leaver has searched out, organized, and summarized the sources. His extensive footnotes make it possible for others to follow his steps and draw their own conclusions, but what emerges as virtually unassailable is the critical importance of music in Luther's reforming efforts, in the work of his colleagues, and in the Lutheran tradition that followed him. This book helps us understand both Luther and the Lutheran heritage in a clearer and more accurate light.

Author Information

Robin A Leaver is Professor of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and visiting professor at the Julliard School, New York City.

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