Music Notes: September 14, 2025

Gradual, MS M.905 II, fol. 1r © Morgan Library, New York

by Chad Pittman, Music Ministry Leader

If you are interested and ever get the chance to look at music from the earliest days of the established church, I encourage you to do so! Music as an art form is incredibly expansive and diverse, so diving into any kind from any area of the world is fascinating. However, since we here at Lutheran Church of the Foothills share a common interest in the established church, I thought I would encourage this today.

The early Catholic church deserves endless credit for the creation and expansion of Western church music. The institution was powerful and had many resources. Monks, composers, and laity offered countless settings of the Mass and motets (our anthem or "special music"), and brought innovative compositional techniques that expanded the art form. 

Martin Luther loved and understood the power of music. Lutheranism carried a great deal of energy, inertia, and enthusiasm, so the resources and working individuals abounded. Lutherans' contributions to the evolution of church music were priceless. 

Each Protestant denomination facilitated meaningful and unique composition/performance aspects into church music. Of note in this moment is the unaccompanied singing of Quakers, Mennonites, and others.

There is so much to discover and appreciate. Taking time to do so can help us expand our love for a diverse art form and find the types of music that mean the most to us and deepen our own relationship with God and others in faith.