Martin Luther Research Paper

Martin Luther, a German theologian and key figure in the Protestant Reformation around 1517, believed that music served as a tool for teaching about theology and as a method of praising God. He incorporated this philosophy of music into his religious practice by creating songs that appealed to the public, leading to the growth of the Lutheran church. His songs combined secular and sacred influences to communicate his religious messages in a less formal way that was easier for the public to understand. However, his music later was used to influence German citizens outside of a religious context where hymns like “A Mighty Fortress” became battle anthems during the Thirty Years’ War of Religion in 1618, a propagandist hymn supporting the German

Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Eisleben, Germany and was baptized in the Roman Catholic church under the Holy Roman Empire. He began studying to become a lawyer in 1501, but he surprisingly abandoned his studies to join an Augustinian monastery and became a monk in 1505. He later became a priest, and while travelling to Rome to discuss the organization of the Augustinian order, Luther took issue with the commercialism of the Church, primarily the sale of indulgences, which were monetary donations to the Church in exchange for forgiveness of sins, as well as the worldliness of the clergy. In response to this, Luther went back to school to become a doctor of theology, teaching the Bible as a professor at the University of Wittenberg, and he focused his doctrine on the scriptures in the Bible rather than the church traditions. Luther made his issues with the practices of the Roman Catholic Church known through his famous nailing of his 95 Theses to the doors of the Schlosskirche church in

This hymn was inspired by Psalm 46 as a “psalm of comfort,” and it was set to a newly composed tune in the 1520s. Like the hymn “A New Song Be by Us Begun,” “A Mighty Fortress” incorporated the traditional AAB form as the German Lieder of the time. Luther wrote this piece to encourage the faithful in the beginning of the Reformation, as well as to promote the spiritual and actual battles against the Reformation’s many opponents. According to Gracia Grindal, “Luther is ‘remythologizing’ the concepts of the ancient Jewish text to make it relevant for his people – or more likely simply using the images of war current in his day.” The dual messaging was achieved by the metaphorical lyricism, as mentioned on page 5. The setting of the text to music emphasized Luther’s message of the strength of God. For example, the words “Burg” and “Gott,” meaning “fortress” and “God,” are both half notes on the pitch G, which is the dominant of the hymn in C. The dominant is a strong, cadential note that reflects the strength of God, as well as musically tying a “fortress” and “God” together in a