In commemoration of the five hundredth anniversary of Johann Walter’s collection Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn (1524), these three motets were edited and selected for their usefulness for modern choirs throughout the Church Year and at celebrations of the Lord’s Supper. Each piece may be sung as a stand-alone motet, using one or more stanzas. Or select stanzas may be sung in alternation with the congregation in the context of singing the hymn. The titles are “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee,” “O Lord, We Praise Thee,” and “Salvation unto Us Has Come.”
The Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn (“little spiritual song book”) was the first German hymnal for choirs, published originally in 1524, just seven years after the Lutheran Reformation. It contained forty-three hymns, three of which are featured in this collection of Three Reformation Motets.
Of the forty-three hymns, thirty-eight appeared in German and five appeared in Latin. The hymnal was reprinted, expanded, or both a total of six times after 1524, with the latest edition appearing in 1551. The Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn blazed the trail for a blossoming of Lutheran choral music in the decades and centuries following the Reformation.
A characteristic feature of choir books in the sixteenth century is that not all vocal parts appeared on the same page and in the same book, as choral scores provide today. Instead, each vocal part was published in a separate book, meaning four separate books were required for an SATB choir.
Martin Luther (1483–1546), some of whose hymn texts appear in the Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn, wrote a foreword for the hymnal, where he expressed this:
To make a good beginning and to encourage others who can do it better, I have myself, with some others, put together a few hymns, in order to bring into full play the blessed Gospel, which by God’s grace has again risen. These songs have been set in four parts, for no other reason than because I wished to provide our young people with something by which they might rid themselves of amorous and carnal songs, and so apply themselves to what is good with pleasure, as behooves the young.
Johann Walter (1496–1570) worked closely with Luther, and he is widely known as the first cantor in the Lutheran Church. The cantor is one who leads the church’s song. Included in that role is directing choirs, accompanying singing, and composing music. Walter’s commemoration date in Lutheran Service Book is April 24.
Walter composed the pieces in Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn in motet style. A motet is a short piece of sacred music sung by multiple voices in polyphonic fashion. Motets are typically unaccompanied; the singing is a cappella. Polyphony is where multiple musical voices work simultaneously, either as independent melodies or together harmonically.
Walter spent the majority of his career in Torgau, Germany, from about 1517 to 1548 and from 1554 until his death in 1570. There, he directed the town choir, composed music, and wrote hymn texts. “The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us” (LSB 514) was written by Walter.
The pieces in Three Reformation Motets all feature the chorale melody in the tenor voice. The soprano, alto, and bass voices provide polyphony and harmony. “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” and “O Lord, We Praise Thee” are hymns of Luther’s, while “Salvation unto Us Has Come” is a keystone Reformation hymn written by Paul Speratus (1484–1551).
In Three Reformation Motets, stanzas 1 and 3 from Lutheran Service Book are included for “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” (LSB 607). Stanza 1 of “O Lord, We Praise Thee” is provided (LSB 617), and stanzas 1, 6, and 9 from LSB 555 are included for “Salvation unto Us Has Come.”
A keyboard reduction is included below the four parts for rehearsal use. Choirs may choose to sing these motets as stand-alone pieces of music in the church service or as choral stanzas during the congregation’s singing of a hymn.
Although these hymns are associated with the Reformation, they are commonplace in Lutheran hymnody throughout the Church Year and should find widespread use all year long.
Play these three Reformation motets in your church by ordering the choral setting below.