Stephen, translation of sacred texts into vernacular languages may qualify as secularisation in other religions, but regarding Luther, the opposite may considered true. He didn't bring the Bible into the secular, he brought the people to the Holy.
To make this point more lute-related, you might compare music in German lute tablature. The number of translations into French tab is increasing, but that doesn't mean that Judenkünig's and Newsidler's music is deprived of its original air. Instead, that beautiful music is opened to masses of players who otherwise had no access. Mathias PS: It's quite well attested that Luther played the lute, but as for playing in taverns, please take into account that he had been a monk. > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] Im > Auftrag von Stephen Stubbs > Gesendet: Samstag, 17. März 2012 05:30 > An: Mathias Rösel > Cc: Lute List > Betreff: [LUTE] Re: Nazi rules correction! > > Reference: > Luther, Biography of a Reformer, by Frederick Nohl, Concordia > Publishing House, 2003. > ISBN 0-7586-0651-6 > > Luther thought it was critical that lay people (non-clergy and the > unlearned) be able to understand the service, be able to sing the > hymns during service, and be able to read the Holy Bible for themselves. > > At the end of the book, there is a wonderful timeline for Luther, > starting on page 215. > > In 1521, Luther translates the New Testament from Greek into German in > 3 months. > > It took Luther and the scholars he gathered with him in Wittenberg > around 12 years to translate the Old Testament from Hebrew into German. > > In 1534, printer Hans Lufft gives Luther a copy of the first truly > German Bible, containing both Old and New Testaments in German, and > was illustrated with colorful initials and woodcuts. (This is what I > meant by Luther taking the Holy Bible out of the sacred precincts and > bringing it to the secular. Now anyone who could read German could > read the Holy Bible. As far as I know, this was the first local > language Holy Bible produced in the world. Gutenberg's printed Holy > Bible was the Latin Vulgate translation.) > > In 1525 Luther prepared his German Mass. The entire service was in > German (another first as far as I know). Prior Masses had the choir > do almost all of the singing. Luther's German Mass called for the > pastor to chant and the choir to sing, but it also permitted the congregation to sing hymns of prayer and praise. > The immediate problem here was that there weren't that many > congregational hymns, so Luther redoubled his efforts to write and > distribute new hymns. In > 1524 he had already published a hymnal that contained 23 of his > hymns. [Luther had a prolific pen that would write instructional > guides (his Small and Large Catechisms), dozen of Sermon Books to help > pastors, music, hymns, the 95 thesis, and on and on. It's really > staggering to see the body of work Luther produced. Basically, > everything needed for community worship and private worship in the > home, Luther either wrote or translated into German so the lay people > had sound Christian doctrine that they could understand in their own > language.] > > On a personal note, I was stunned to learn in the 1960's (before > Vatican II ???) that my friends who were Roman Catholics were still > hearing the Mass in Latin and were not allowed to have Holy Bibles in > their own homes. I grew up in the Lutheran tradition in rural Missouri, USA. > > I'm sorry, I can't find my reference to Luther's recorder playing. > Maybe it was a story I was told in Lutheran Sunday School. > > Sacred Music for Lute, edited by Catherine Liddell, Volume 1: > Renaissance tuning, published by Lyre Music Publications, Fort Worth, > TX, copyright 2000: has a cover art of: A relief of Martin Luther > from the Lutherdenkmal, Eisleben photo: Die Zeit; graphics: John Anglim. > > This is all I'll say on the list. Please contact me off-list with any > further discussions. Thank you. > > "The Other" Stephen Stubbs > Champaign, IL USA > > > On 3/16/2012 12:06 PM, Mathias Rösel wrote: > >> Please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Martin Luther, circa > >> 1500, say > > "Why > >> should the Devil have all the best music?", and took his lute and > >> recorder > > to the > >> German taverns to play his hymns. > > May I say at least that this is news to me: Luther playing the > > recorder, and Luther playing and singing in taverns. > > > >> His 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God' wasn't only sung in churches. > > Right, it was also sung on stakes and before battles, i.e. when > > facing eternity. > > > >> It wasn't only the Holy Bible that he took out of the sacred > >> precincts and brought to the secular. > > This is the third news to me, Luther brought the Bible to the secular. > > > > Keep plucking! > > > > Mathias > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
