In the 2017 quincentenary of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, this book stands out in reevaluating Luther's reforms of the musical liturgy in Wittenberg. It is well known that Luther promoted vernacular songs in the liturgy and that he insisted that the congregation should sing those songs. However, recent scholarship has assumed that the transition from Roman Catholic Latin choral singing to Protestant vernacular congregational singing was a slow process in Luther's Wittenberg. This view holds that Luther had other more pressing concerns of reform and that it took time to write new songs and to teach those songs to the populace. Weaving a discussion of Luther's views on music and early modern musical culture together with a fresh analysis of the oft-overlooked 1526 Wittenberg hymnal, Enchyridion geistlicher gesange und psalm fur die leven, Leaver convincingly argues that Luther's musical reforms started in 1523, quite soon after his return to Wittenberg in 1522.
Leaver structures his argument in eight chapters and five appendices. Chapter i explores the history of Reformation Day festivities, showcasing the importance that those events have often placed on musical performance and scholarship. This provides context for the remainder of the study, which begins in the second chapter discussing the state of vernacular song in the early decades of the sixteenth century. This is followed in the third chapter by a general introduction to Luther's reforming efforts from 1517 to 1523. The next two chapters consider Luther's process of collecting and writing new musical content and both how this was printed and disseminated in Wittenberg and how others such as Thomas Müntzer and Johann Walter built on Luther's initial efforts. Chapter vi analyses the 1526 Wittenberg Enchyridion, arguing that it was the third in a line of hymnals that were first printed in 1524 (Appendix 1 supplements this argument with a proposed listing of the contents of those editions). The final two chapters then weigh the ways in which the early hymnals reflect the priorities and practices of the Wittenberg churches and then how these practices then continued to develop during the 1520s and ’30s and how hymnals were developed in other cities such as Nuremberg, Erfurt, Leipzig and Magdeburg.
The central focus of Leaver's argument is the evaluation of the 1526 Enchyridion and its relation to other contemporaneous hymnals. Luther's early efforts to adapt already-popular folk hymns and to adopt contemporaneous musical styles such as German bar form for newly composed melodies meant that the results were familiar to his congregants and easy for them to learn. Moreover, Luther's melodies were composed or adapted to fit their texts; after all he insisted that ‘both the text and [musical] notes, accent and melody, and manner of rendering ought to grow out of the true mother tongue and its inflection’ (p. 86). One particularly clear example of this belief in practice is Luther's version of Psalm lxvii, which he set to the tune Ave Maria (p. 72).
Leaver does identify some areas for additional enquiry that could prove fruitful. In particular, he acknowledges the importance of the ongoing work to digitise early hymnals. This will allow for greater access to their contents, particularly those that are extant in only one edition. Digitisation will also expose them to closer examinations of their interdependencies, potentially revealing how the hymns were shared and modified between Protestant communities.
Leaver's conclusions about the 1526 Enchyridion are supported by a series of arguments that are often taken for granted by those interested in the early modern period. First, he reminds readers of the importance of vernacular singing before the advent of recorded sound (p. 8). People often passed the time singing to themselves and others (p. 84). They therefore did not need to be taught how to sing but only needed to learn the new hymns (p. 81). Even though many would not have known how to read, Leaver asserts that the printing press was important to the dissemination of hymns. Though this assertion may seem to contradict the effectiveness of aural transmission, the two actually worked in concert as non-literate people often relied on literate individuals to teach them printed songs (p. 82). Second, he notes that vernacular singing had been common in Wittenberg religious festivals before 1521, so Luther's efforts to provide musical content for the daily Offices of Vespers, Compline and Matins may not have been completely foreign to Wittenberg congregants.
The whole Church sings is a well-organised study that is largely accessible to a wide audience. Leaver avoids musical jargon in order to ensure that this important work is comprehensible to anyone interested in church music or Reformation history. In the interest of clarity and precision, Leaver relies on the original Latin and German titles for both the hymnals and hymns, which does leave some of the finer points to a more specialist audience. However, the straightforward organisation of the monograph and the clear writing style allow for Leaver's broader arguments to shine through. Coupled with his careful and extensive scholarship, The whole Church sings will become a critical work for future scholarship in church music and Reformation history because it evidences Luther's efforts in musical reform and transforms our understanding of the early years of Luther's Wittenberg churches.
