The goal of this paper is that of providing an exposition and interpretation of Martin Luther’s theory of music. As much as Luther’s thought was in many cases a departure from the previous theological tradition, his positions concerning the nature of music constitute an exception. As I will discuss below, in many ways Luther was the recipient of theories which found their origin as early as in high-medieval thought, or even in pre-Christian philosophy. At the same time, the way in which he implemented music in the theology and the liturgical practice of the protestant tradition was in many ways innovative. His vision of worship music as a way of propagating the Scripture eventually led to the use of vernacular in place of Latin in church singing, …show more content…
In this sense, apart from reading Luther and his interpreters, I will establish I dialogue between him and the orthodox theologian Pavel Florensky. While not a friend to Protestantism, I believe that Florensky’s last work – a study on the nature and role of icons published under the title of Iconostasis – provides with fruitful insights which can be applied for unfolding the deeper nuances of Luther’s ideas. In this regard, his reliance on the pre-reformed tradition allows for this comparison with the practices of the orthodox church to be established, thereby producing a somewhat different image of Luther. Often, works concerning Luther’s theory of music tend to focus on the ethical importance that this held for him. While I do not intend that this is probably the main aspect in his consideration of music, I consciously chose to give only a superficial treatment of it. In line with my choice of examining Luther’s ties to scholastic thought, as well as establishing a possible parallel with orthodox theology, I opted to focus on issues of metaphysics rather than of …show more content…
While breaking with tradition on multiple matters of doctrine, he retained what we could basically described as a late-medieval conception of music . As a result, Luther continued to draw on at least some of the elements of Scholastic philosophy, as well as some of its pre-Christian sources. Crucial to this paper, we find recorded in the Table Talk how Luther made reference to music as one of the «prime matters ». Doing so, Luther reiterated a view held by many before him – including the like of Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard - and stretching back to Boethius . According to Boethius, prime matter was matter never shaped or formed by human action, but simply present in nature. In his Preface to the Symphoniae Iucundae – an introduction he wrote to a work by Georg Rhau – we find Luther expressing himself in terms consonant to Boethius’ positions: «if you examine the thing itself, you will find that music was impressed or created with every single creature one and all. For nothing is without sound, or sounding number, so that the very air […] in motion sounds and can be heard and even touched ». Something we can notice, is how this passage shows that Luther’s concept of music was deeply ontological, in the sense that to him music held a universal and objective significance well beyond its sensual qualities and manifestations . As we will below, Luther