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Following the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, it was difficult to find Lutheran worship music that measured up to his lofty standards. Although the Lutheran tradition was weakened by the influence of Pietism, the Enlightenment, opera, and secular music in general, Lutheran composers did continue to write music for worship. Those of leading rank in this movement were Bach’s sons:
Others included:
Their profession was one of diminishing quality and recognition, one that didn’t recover its importance until well into the 19th century. Only a scattering of significant sacred music was produced in any denomination during this period. Important secular music composers contributed little to sacred music and preferred to produce music for performance in concert halls. In fact, many had only a slender relationship to Lutheranism or even Christianity. For example:
The idea that old music communicated to a "modern" audience was born essentially in the 19th century. As the Lutheran Church began to study the historic documents of its tradition, it found that both the choral and instrumental music and hymnody developed over the centuries spoke powerfully to the 19th-century Lutheran. As researchers rediscovered Reformation hymnody, church leaders began to restore it to congregational use. Because immigrant American Lutheran congregations looked to the latest European scholarship for their worship books, rhythmic Reformation hymns appeared in American Lutheran pews, often before their German counterparts saw them. Copies of 16th- and 17th-century Church Orders found their way to the New World. Orders were based on the earlier Agendas, including those of Friedrich Loehe. Among the American Lutheran leaders who encouraged the adoption of these restored materials were:
Lutheranism wasn’t immune to the revival movement that swept both Europe and the United States. This movement profoundly affected the way Lutherans, particularly in Scandinavia and the upper midwestern United States, expressed their faith. In general, Lutherans who practiced this kind of Pietism borrowed from the music and worship traditions of non-Lutheran groups, particularly English and American Protestant revival leaders. They frequently didn’t create an enduring body of their own material. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was the grandson of the distinguished Jewish Rationalist philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. While most of Felix Mendelssohn’s work was conceived for the concert stage without any hint of religious theme, several works contain religious subject matter. His two oratorios, "Elijah" and "St. Paul," appear to connect religious themes with Mendelssohn’s personal life as a Jewish Christian. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was an earthy man of peasant stock. His family was neither poor nor wealthy. Brahms’ parents were able to secure a good education for him and he studied music with a fine teacher. He was an avid reader, and he admired, among others, the German Romantic philosopher-musician E. T. A. Hoffmann. In youthful correspondence, Brahms occasionally signed "Kreisler Junior" after the main character of Hoffmann’s "Des jungen Kreislers Schaetzkaestlein" (The Young Kreisler’s Little Treasure Chest). Max Reger was born on March 19, 1873, the son of a teacher in the small German town of Weiden. He died in Leipzig in 1916. He received his early musical training from Adalbert Lindner, who became Reger’s biographer after his premature death. Lindner instilled in Reger a healthy, Romantic interest regarding the great German musical heritage.
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The
rediscovery and publication of early literary and musical treasures enriched
the traditions of countries with the Lutheran heritage. While much of
the Medieval and Renaissance treasury that reappeared in the 19th
century in Germany and Scandinavia was secular, great quantities also
were sacred in character. Old music began to find new ears. 