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At the heart of Luther's thoughts was his belief that, in the eyes of God at least,
...members of the congregation...
...and members of the clergy were no different. So whereas in the Catholic church, for the most...
part, the clergy sang...
...and the congregation listened,
Luther's ideas about the role of music in church were very different.
According to Luther's doctrine,
everyone had equal access to God,
and therefore everyone should be able to worship through song.
So, Luther introduced the concept of congregational singing.
"Ein Feste Burg",
"A Mighty Fortress", written by Luther himself,
is his most famous hymn.
Its name adorns the tower of one of the most important of all Lutheran churches...
...here, in Wittenberg, a small town...
some 250 kilometers from Eisenach.
Just across the square in 1523,
Luther held his first service and possibly encouraged his congregation to sing "A Mighty Fortress"
for the first time.
Today Wittenberg is seen by many as the spiritual home of the Lutheran church,
and it draws pilgrims from all over the world.
Pastors Bob and Arnie have come here to minister to the thousands of American Lutherans,
who visit Wittenberg every year.
But on the day I came,
they seemed to be pretty much the only ones here.
So is it a pilgrimage of a type?
In a sense, the significance of this place in terms of...
the total reformation, the history of the church it does become like a
a pilgrimage center. We've met a women from Australia and she said "You're the second Lutheran...
pastor I've met. This must be like Mecca, Mecca to you folks".
And in a way it's important that way to us. I'm from Wilton, Colorado. If you remember the...
the Columbine...
shootings. I was involved in the follow-up work of that and...
4-5 days after that happened...
we gathered at my church and we stood around the baptismal font...
and we sang "A mighty fortress is our God" and it was one of the most emotional...
experiences I've ever had because it spoke to, you know...
the whole situation where God is our fortress and strength even in the midst of something...
as tragic as columbine high school. - That's probably what Luther...
cottoned on to, wasn't it, that there's an emotional...
grounding when you sign a hymn in a large
group.
Johann Sebastian Bach is called "the fifth evangelist".
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the four and the idea is that the music touches the soul,
in the way,
spoken word does not.
After the word of God, it was music. - It was music and,
Bach is the fifth evangelist.
Luther's ideas about the role of music in church had a huge influence on Bach.
And one of Bach's most famous religious works
is his interpretation of a Lutheran choral.
"Jesu, joy of Man's desiring",
is not only a beautiful expression of Bach's faith...
but for Harry Christophers,
it also is one of the finest examples of Bach's...
musical genius.
For me, one of the...
biggest aspects of Bach's music,
is just how modern he sounds.
He stretches these boundaries of form, of writing,
of the way he stretches the voice, he stretches the instrument he's writing for.
He uses every different form, be it dance, be it old polyphony, be it choral melodies, it's the way he...
utilizes every musical form, turns it into his own and makes it absolutely unique.
From birth,
the Lutheran church and it's music...
played a central role in Bach's life.
In the shadow of Wartburg Castle stands St. George's Church.
This is where Bach's uncle, Johann Christoph served as an organist and where Bach himself was christened.
It was originally built as a Catholic church of course...
and here, as a small Catholic boy, Luther...
...sang in the choir.
And above the door...
is carved the name of Luther's famous hymn.
Bach would have known it well,
...as a boy he also sang in the choir here.
Bach was born into very musical family over a hundred of his ancestors and relatives...
...were professional musicians or composers.
Bach's father was the town piper.
But it was his uncle, Johann Christoph,
...himself a famous organist...
...who taught Bach to play the organ.
150 years before Bach, Luther came back here to preach
...and it's amazing to think this might have been the place where Bach, as a very young boy,
first fell in love with the organ,
with his uncle playing.
Thanks to his family and their extensive collections of scores,
...as a child Bach was exposed to a huge range of musical ideas.
As well as great composers of the day like Pachelbel and Froberger,
Bach would have heard court, religious, folk and dance music from across Europe.
He would later draw upon all these influences,
...and incorporate them into his own music.
When he was 14, Bach won a choral scholarship to the prestigious St. Michael school in...
...Lüneburg, just outside Hamburg.
For two years...
...not only would he have sung in one of the best choirs in Germany,
but he also would have heard some of the finest instruments at the time.
Shortly after graduating from St. Micheal's,
Bach began work on his Cantata No.4.
Based on the Lutheran hymn:
"Christ lag in Todesbanden",
"Christ lay in death's bonds",
it shows how quickly Bach had mastered writing for both voice and instruments.
He was just twenty two years old when he wrote it.
In his own life time,
Bach didn't always get to work with the finest musicians.
He would frequently struggle to get enough money to perform many of his religious pieces...
...as he envisaged them.
The Catholic church, however,
...had a very different attitude to money.
At the start of the 16th century,
...Rome was filled with some of the grandest and most expensive churches and basilicas...
in the world.
And in approximately 1516,
...Pope Leo X decided to build one,
...that would outshine them all.