The Singing of the Strasbourg Protestants, 1523-1541 (St Andrews Studies in Reformation History)

This book explores the part played by music, especially group singing, in the Protestant reforms in Strasbourg. It considers both ecclesiastical and ’popular’ songs in the city, how both genres fitted into people’s lives during this time of strife and how the provision and dissemination of music affected the new ecclesiastical arrangement. Music was, in some form or another, a pastime enjoyed by all in sixteenth-century society, and a fundamental part of their lives. It was both through the use of music and partly as a result of its existence that many religious changes occurred during the Reformation. This book explores the part played by music, especially group singing, in the unfolding of the Protestant reforms in Strasbourg. It considers both ecclesiastical and 'popular' songs in the city, examining how both genres fitted into people's lives during this time of strife, and how the provision and dissemination of music as a w The church and the "wonderful art" of music -- Abolishing the mass -- Song texts and their messages -- The reformers for and against music -- Bucer's 1541 Gesangbuch and the international influence of Strasbourg's musical policy