A note for all License Holders: This blog post is part of a larger series on popular hymn tunes in the public domain. Remember that the texts paired with these melodies may be copyrighted. In those cases, the text copyright holder’s permission would be needed to use the copyrighted text, even if the melody is in the public domain. Be sure to search and report these copyrighted texts through your ONE LICENSE account. 

A note for our License Holders in Australia and New Zealand: In these regions, publishers earn a royalty on their engraving of musical works. During the reporting process, License Holders will be prompted to select the publication source they are using. 

ONE LICENSE also offers a Sacred Sounds podcast where you can learn more about sacred music, old and new. To listen to all episodes of Sacred Sounds, please visit https://media.rss.com/sacredsounds/feed.xml (or please click here).

While Martin Luther’s theology and catechesis are arguably his claim to fame, his contributions to Christian hymnody are perhaps even more influential. It is almost impossible for any Christian to claim that they have never sung one of Luther’s hymns. Consider one of Luther’s most enduring compositions, EIN FESTE BURG (or, in its English translation, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”).

Luther’s beliefs about music were closely tied to his religious beliefs, and his compositions were a direct result of his desire for liturgical reform. Luther himself argued that the study of music was second only to the study of God in importance. He went so far as to say that people who did not study music should not be ordained clergy. This demand for musical excellence grew from Luther’s insistence on the importance of singing liturgy in the vernacular, or the worshipper’s native language. In liturgical music (and, by extension, in all music), the most valuable quality was clear text setting. A “good” composer would set liturgical texts to melody in such a way that the natural rhythms and inflections of spoken language would be enhanced—rather than impeded—by the melody. For this reason, Luther expressed admiration and advocated the use of compositions by the Franco-Flemish polyphonist Josquin des Prez. Josquin was known for his ability to layer complex counterpoint while rendering the text intelligible to listeners.

To accomplish his musical Reformation, Luther worked closely with and relied heavily on composer Johann Walter. Walter began his career as a singer in the court chapel of the Elector of Saxony but eventually lost this post when one Elector died and another ascended to the role. At that point, Walter moved to Wittenberg and became a prominent member of Luther’s circle. Around this time (1524-1525), Walter began composing hymns with German texts. Sharing Luther’s commitment to worshiping in the vernacular language, he also assisted Luther with codifying liturgical reform, structuring and composing Luther’s German Mass. It is almost impossible to overstate Walter’s influence on Lutheranism, and vice versa.

Much like Luther’s and Walter’s compositional output, Lutheran liturgical music was practically synonymous with the chorale as a genre. Lutheran adherents required a new form of music to accompany their new form of worship; that is, the structure of the Catholic Mass—and, by extension, Catholic Mass settings—was not the structure of the German Mass, or Lutheran liturgy. Luther and his contemporaries labeled their new hymns “geistliche lieder” (spiritual songs), but these songs came to be known as chorales in subsequent years. The term “chorale” likely comes from the Latin phrase “chorus choralis,” indicating the portions of the monophonic portions of the Mass as sung by the choir. Because the whole congregation acts as the choir in the Lutheran ideal, naturally the whole congregation would participate in the chorus choralis.

The demand for a large repertoire ready to sing immediately led Lutheran clergy and musicians to be creative. Some chorales were newly composed (like EIN FESTE BURG, as we will see in a moment); others were adapted from Latin, Catholic hymns. Perhaps most surprisingly, many chorales began life as “contrafacta” (“contrafactum” in the singular). Contrafactum is the practice of taking an existing melody and writing new lyrics to accompany it. Martin Luther’s habit of writing contrafacta was not in itself surprising, but he was known for employing the melodies of some popular secular songs that originally had decidedly less spiritual messages.

The first published version of EIN FESTE BURG was a text-only version in 1529, but Johann Walter’s version of 1530 documents the melody that we recognize today. Over the centuries, historians have debated whether Luther or Walter actually composed the melody of EIN FESTE BURG. The consensus in recent years endorses the view that Luther probably wrote the melody, as his musical erudition is well documented, and his contemporaries tended to credit him as the composer during his lifetime.

EIN FESTE BURG is a complex melody in many ways, in contrast to the other melodies we have discussed, whose popularity is often a function of their simplicity. Though most of us would immediately recognize the 1530 EIN FESTE BURG as the melody commonly used today, the notated rhythm of that first version may surprise us. Chris Fenner, of Hymnology Archive, notes that Walter’s 1530 notation indicates a looser, dance-like rhythm, while most 21st-century worshippers are familiar with a more march-like rigidity. The variation is likely due to inherent differences between Renaissance rhythmic notation and modern rhythmic notation. Modern musicians conceive of rhythms as divisions of evenly paced measures, each consisting of the same number of beats. Renaissance musicians conceived of rhythm in proportional relationships, i.e., each note’s length was defined by its relationship to the length of other notes. These proportions can result in rhythms that feel less rigid and more dance-like, as Fenner mentions. For a sense of just how different the rhythm of EIN FESTE BURG can feel, we recommend searching the internet for a period ensemble singing from Renaissance notation.

The form of EIN FESTE BURG is similarly complex. The entire melody is an elaboration on German “bar form,” or AAB form. In other words, the melody begins with a section of music, then that section repeats, and at the end, a section of new music is introduced. EIN FESTE BURG’s bar form consists of seven phrases: the first A section comprises phrases 1 and 2, the repeated A section comprises phrases 3 and 4, and the B section comprises phrases 5, 6, and 7. Phrase 7 is identical to phrases 2 and 4. The phrases are of varying lengths. Again, we should remember that Luther was not counting measures but selecting rhythms to fit his poetic text according to the Lutheran value of mimicking the natural speech patterns of vernacular language.

A
1. A mighty fortress is our God,
2. A bulwark never failing;
A
3. Our helper he amid the flood
4. Of mortal ills prevailing:
B
5. For still our ancient foe, Doth seek to work us woe;
6. His craft and pow’r are great, And armed with cruel hate,
7. On earth is not his equal.

Despite these challenges, EIN FESTE BURG serves congregations musically in a number of ways. Consistent with the Lutheran emphasis on clear text setting, the melody matches the text syllabically; in other words, each syllable of the text is sung to one note of the melody. With the exception of three large leaps (two of which are adjacent and together form an embellishment of the same note), the melody is mostly scalar. Altogether, the melody does not extend beyond the range of an octave, fitting quite comfortably in the vocal range of most untrained adults.

Ultimately, EIN FESTE BURG is a musical monument of the Protestant Reformation. Recognized for centuries as the epitome of the Lutheran chorale, it has since been adopted by all Christian denominations as an ode to our common God. Fitting almost any liturgical occasion, EIN FESTE BURG is a timeless musical expression of the faith that we share.

Photo copyright: Zulfugar Karimov. This image is available for download at www.pexels.com.