Luther understood that music is an exceptional teaching tool.
The year 1524 was frightfully busy for Martin Luther. He had returned from his confinement in the Wartburg Castle two years previous, and ever since, had dedicated himself to translating the Bible into German and steadying the work of reformation in Wittenberg that had gone dangerously off kilter in his absence. His dual vocation of pastor/professor was more pastor than professor in those days, as the need to establish correct doctrine and worship in the local churches temporarily trumped the need to grant lectures to students. But with the start of a new semester in April 1524, he re-commenced his full duties as professor. It was a good sign that the Reformation was back on track.
Nevertheless, the congregants he shared with pastor Johannes Bugenhagen still required his talents: specifically, a set of skills he had developed during his boyhood study in Eisenach. There he had received education in music which prepared him somewhat uniquely for his eventual career. For if the people of Wittenberg and the broader region of Saxony were to worship God in Spirit and in truth, they would need new songs in their own language that proclaimed the Word of God. Thus, Luther found time amid his numerous duties to partner with Paul Speratus on a songbook for the reforming churches.
Speratus had his own fascinating backstory. He was born into a wealthy family in the German region of Swabia and eventually became an ordained priest bound by monastic vows. He traveled far more widely than Luther and ended up as a cathedral dean in the cities of Salzburg and Würzburg. But despite following this ideal path for a son of Rome, Speratus was won over by Martin Luther’s theology. He was among the first priests to renounce his monastic vows and take a wife, forcing him to flee to the region of Moravia (within the present-day Czech Republic). He was then excommunicated in 1522 after preaching a sermon in Vienna defending his departure from monasticism.
Things only got worse for Speratus the following year when he was imprisoned and threatened with execution. Fortunately, due to an ever-changing political situation and appeals on his behalf, Speratus was released from prison, although he had to leave Moravia. He ended up in Wittenberg, where his skill as a translator and hymn writer was identified and he partnered with Luther on what became popularly known as the Achtliederbuch (Eight Song Book), the first set of new vernacular hymns published by the Lutheran Reformation. The book would be released in 1524 by the Nuremberg printer Jobst Gutknecht. [1]
Also known as Etlich Cristlich lider / Lobgesang und Psalm (Meaning “Some Christian songs/canticle and psalm”), the name by which it was originally published, the Achtliederbuch’s eight hymns were a joint production: four by Luther, three by Speratus, and one often attributed to Luther’s close colleague, Justus Jonas. Several are based on the word of the Psalms, and all of them place the focus on God at the center of the Christian life. Below is a complete listing of the hymns along with links where you can hear some of them performed with their original melodies.
- “Nun freut euch lieben Christen g’mein” by Martin Luther, usually called in English “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABppGFwLsEA
- “Es ist das Heil uns kommen her” by Paul Speratus, usually called in English “Salvation now has come for all.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Sim2ZSqtA
- “In Gott gelaub ich das er hat” by Paul Speratus, roughly translated “In God, I believe that he has.”
- “Hilf Gott, wie ist der Menschen Not” by Paul Speratus, roughly translated “Help God, how is the need of men.”
- “Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein” by Martin Luther, usually called in English “Oh God, look down from heaven.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYIkrARt3nU
- “Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl” by Martin Luther, usually called in English “The mouth of fools doth God confess.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-WJcPl6Qp8
- “Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir” by Martin Luther, usually called in English “From deep affliction I cry out to you.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TokWYxzRsxg
- “In Jesu Namen wir heben an” probably written by Justus Jonas, roughly translated “In Jesus’ name we begin.”
The hymn with the most interesting backstory may be Speratus’ “Es ist das Heil uns kommen her/ Salvation now has come for all.” He is thought to have written it while he was imprisoned and in need of his own temporal salvation, but the eternal salvation he had in Christ allowed him to fix his eyes on the cross throughout that trial.
In his hymn, Speratus declares that, “Faith looks towards Jesus Christ / who has done enough for all of us. / He has become our mediator.” [2] It speaks of the struggle to find help in keeping God’s law, and the salvation that ultimately comes through Christ.
“Yet the law had to be fulfilled,
or else we were all ruined.
God therefore sent his Son to us,
who himself became man;
he fulfilled the whole law,
and so appeased his Father’s wrath
which hung over all of us”
Speratus points to God’s promises and says to his Redeemer, “Your word cannot deceive.” The full story of the gospel is related in this long hymn with fourteen stanzas.
Such theological depths are explored in all eight of the hymns in the Achtliederbuch, which became a staple in reforming churches and were so popular that, less than a year later, a second hymnal was released: the longer Erfurt Enchiridion. That work included a hymn by Elisabeth Cruciger, wife of the Wittenberg reformer Caspar Cruciger.
Luther would continue to write hymns for his congregants and to enlist the help of others. He understood that music is an exceptional teaching tool. Even as children sing songs to remember the order of the alphabet, so the congregants in Wittenberg came to know spiritual truths by singing them. Luther’s later work on the Large and Small Catechisms was another initiative meant to communicate doctrine to the common people. In so doing, Luther ensured that he was not only a professor, but always a pastor as well, and if the situation called for it, a musician.
