Changes Luther Made to the Roman Mass

In 1526, Luther published the German Mass, a modification of the Roman Mass for use in the Lutheran church. The outline was quite similar to the Roman mass, but with many internal changes. For example, the Gloria (a genre of plainchant used daily in the Roman Mass) was omitted; several parts of the Proper (plainchant used in each service, but with a different melody and text) were condensed or omitted; and German hymns replaced the remaining items of the typical Roman Mass.

Many parts of the German Mass continued to be sung in Latin as far as into the eighteenth century. This was partly because Luther thought it was valuable for education. The biggest change that Luther made to the Roman Mass was adding a hymn called a chorale to the service. These hymns began with only text and melody, with the melody repeating several times to different text. This can be thought of as several stanzas or verses in modern hymn books. Many of the hymn melodies that Luther used came from popular peasant songs of his day. Luther hoped that people would more easily accept the hymn's message by hearing a familiar melody set to new text. In addition, these hymns were set in the vernacular as opposed to the Latin used by the Catholic church and in other parts of the German Mass.

Luther not only changed the format of the Mass, but changed the way Protestants viewed music in general. The Catholic church associated music with something mystical or allegorical. Luther, on the other hand, felt that music was simply practical and was to be used for praising God and proclaiming the Word. This caused music to be viewed as a performing art with an extremely important role in the church. The main thrust behind Luther's reforms of the Mass was the belief that each Christian could and should approach God himself without going through a priest. Luther encouraged this idea by making the services so much more congregation-oriented.

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This page was created in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance class at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music.