Luthers Lieder

Martin Geck – a musicologist who has also studied theology – binds together in this book the musical, theological, literary and cultural-historical threads of his theme to create a concise and original presentation of Luther’s major songs against a wider horizon.

Thus for example the song ‘Ein feste Burg’ – praised by Heinrich Heine as the ‘Marseillaise of the Reformation’ – is not only set against Luther’s theology but also against its multi-faceted later history up to and including its reception during the Nazi period. Perspectives on ‘Luther and Music’, ‘Luther and Bach’, ‘Luther on Mendelssohn’ shed light on the Reformer’s significance for the history of culture and music.

The depiction reflects the latest research, but is not aimed solely at specialists, rather at any reader who wants a concise but thorough introduction to Luther’s songs in the 500th anniversary year of the Reformation. This is no legend of a saint, but an argument, supported by critical enthusiasm, for regarding Luther’s songs as beacons of the Reformation.