CHAPTER VIII
CHURCH MUSIC IN NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE
61. In General.—The story of music in northern Europe at
this time gathers about three centres, Austria, the seat of the
Hapsburg line of emperors, Bavaria, more or less associated
with it, and Saxony, the headquarters of the Protestant Reformation.
The first two were intimately affiliated with Italy and
shared in all Italian tendencies, while the last tended to strike
out into new paths in sacred music. It is convenient and valid
to consider them somewhat apart. Chronologically it would
be better to begin with Austria, but topically it is more useful
to turn at once to the rise of Reformation music in Saxony.
This will lead on, finally, to a survey of musical progress in
France, the Low Countries and England, all of which were
affected by the Reformation.
62. The Lutheran Reformation.—Lutheran Protestantism began in Saxony and took its name from Martin Luther, a highly educated Augustinian monk, well versed in music, who at Wittenberg, in 1517, publicly protested against the sale of indulgences and other abuses in the papal system as then administered, and who by 1520 had become so outspoken as to be excommunicated. His action was a symptom of a widespread feeling that was waiting for organization. Luther at once attracted able coadjutors, and under their leadership a complex revolution of thought swept over northern Germany, winning support from all classes.
The issue between the Protestant and the Catholic parties was fully
defined by 1520 (the Diet of Augsburg), but was not held to be irreconcilable
till about 1550. The progress of the movement during its
first century, owing to the extreme partition of Germany into many
petty states, all overshadowed by the Empire, was involved in complicated
political entanglements, by which its character was often distorted,
its well-wishers split into hostile factions, and its advance checked. In
consequence, its features escape succinct statement.
