Celebrating Lutheran Music: Scholarly Perspectives at the Quincentenary ed. by Jonas Lundblad et al. (review)

The 500th anniversary of the Reformation provided opportunities for reflection, analysis, and evaluation of the movement, together with thoughts for the future. Such was the case in Sweden, where a two-and-a-half day conference, Lutheran Music Culture, was held in September 2017 at Uppsala University. Scholars from eleven countries over five continents assembled to read papers. The current volume is the first of a planned two-volume set; it contains 24 of the 47 papers.

Presenters were selected through a review process that accepted a wide diversity of topics and varied methodologies. Some papers are fairly general, while others are much more specific, using a microhistory approach. Two examples include: "Listening the Lutheran Way: Theological Perspectives on the Development of the Hymn" by Torbjörn Johansson (267–80) and "The Organ's Effect on Hymnal Singing: A Microhistory of Congregational Singing and Playing in Överselö, Stallarholmen, 1754" by Hanna Drakengren, (267–80).

The volume has three parts: 1) liturgical developments in various locations in the sixteenth century, 2) the application of Reformation principles in the succeeding centuries through hymnody and choral/vocal music, and 3) systematic and contemporary perspectives. Of the three major sections, the first has the most unity, dealing primarily with the acceptance of or resistance to the use of the vernacular in the liturgy in various locales. To this reader, whose frame of reference is admittedly the Reformation in Germany, this was interesting reading. Sweden is given the most attention, but Iceland, Finland, Livonia (the area now in present-day Estonia and Latvia), and Bohemia are also treated. The second and third sections are much more loosely organized but reflect the variety of research topics relative to the Lutheran Reformation: hymnals and hymnody, theology and practice, and role of the organ. Certain topics are defined by a specific music: children; brass; global music, contemporary/traditional. Here are a few of my own favorites, but each reader may have other preferences: "The Hymnody of Andreas Rudman in New Sweden, Delaware, 1696–1708" by Kim-Eric Williams (177–90), "Church Music for Children: Embodied, Formative, Cross-generational" by Sam Eatherton (297–308), and "Brass Ensembles as a Process of Community Building: Participatory Performance and the Posaunenchor" by Ryoto Akiyama (309–21).

This volume, and presumably the conference that preceded it, was not intended as a general overview of the Reformation and its legacy, but rather a presentation of recent research on related topics. To this reader, one of the areas lacking is that of choral music. Granted, three papers deal with sacred choral music: "Pure Lutheranism? On Catholic Devotional Texts in Dietrich Buxtehude's Lutheran Figural Music" by Olga Gero (141–53), "Law and Gospel in Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata 106: A Fundamental Lutheran Theme Set to Music" by Daniel Johansson (155–67), and "Johan Helmich Roman's Te Deum and Jubilate, and a Lutheran Feast" by Eva Helenius (191–205). However, viewing the entirety of the Reformation legacy, one might have wished for a presentation on some aspect of the music of Michael Praetorius, Heinrich Schütz, or any of the other Lutheran composers of the early seventeenth century.

Each essay is amply footnoted; many of the essays treat primary resources, while the secondary sources reflect the most recent research. The editors have prepared an extensive bibliography and index, as well as a short biography of each writer. While print copies can be purchased through the University of Uppsala, the Department of Musicology has graciously made this volume available free as a full-text download. This book is highly recommended for anyone who has interest in the history and legacy of the Reformation in music and liturgy.