Hymnody and Hymnals in Basel, 1526-1606

Abstract

Basel became the first Reformed city in the Swiss Confederation to allow music in church services. It was a striking departure from an otherwise strict adherence to Zwinglian doctrine, in part because reformers learned from their Lutheran colleagues the extraordinary impact that singing could have in the service. Hymnody remained an important form of religious expression in Basel, although printers in Strasbourg and later Zurich published the hymnals that the laity used. This situation changed with Basel's second Reformation and the subsequent adoption of one of the most common Calvinist hymnals of the era, the Lobwasser Psalter. Samuel Mareschal (1554-1640), minster organist and professor of music at the University of Basel, combined the Psalter with earlier hymns to create a work that integrated musical influences from Lutheranism, Calvinism, and even Catholicism. As a means of both communication and instruction, hymnody had a central role in Basel's religious reforms.

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