Martin Luther’s contribution to the crystallization of the Protestant Choral

Abstract

For the beginning of the Reformation, the choral was so deeply identified with Lutheranism that it became its symbol by excellence. Martin Luther's contribution to the crystallization of the Protestant choral is both an act of reform and a synthesis of the musical styles already existing at the time. Few of the songs are completely original, most of them coming either from the German translation of Latin songs, or from very popular Latin sacred songs that were used for large religious holidays, so the choral reflects a variety of musical styles, starting from the medieval cantus firmus and the songs of the 16th-century meistersingers, to the lied of the Baroque era accompanied by the continuo. The paternity of the Lutheran chorales has been the subject of many controversial disputes over the time, so in certain periods of history the tendency has been to give to Luther unjustly hymns that did not belong to him, exaggerating in this sense, and as a rebound, the next century had the tendency to deprive the reformer of many of the chorals he really composed.