Church music during the Reformation developed during the Protestant Reformation in two schools of thought, the regulative and normative principles of worship, based on reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther. They derived their concepts in response to the Catholic church music, which they found distracting and too ornate. Both principles also pursued use of the native tongue, either alongside or in place of liturgical Latin.
Background
The Protestant Reformation, which rapidly spread throughout Europe in the sixteenth century, created sweeping changes in many facets of society. A call for reform and a subsequent break from the Roman Church by Martin Luther and his followers in 1521 following the Diet of Worms created an irreversible schism in the Church, and while this divide was more immediately noticeable politically, the Protestant movement changed many aspects of Europeans' daily lives through the reformed doctrine and practices of the new churches. One of the most noticeable changes to take place was the way in which Christians worshiped through music. Before and during the Reformation, much of Catholic worship music consisted of highly florid choral works, Gregorian plainchant, and responsive songs in praise of God and in honor of the Virgin Mary. Protestant reformers, however, sought to change Catholicism's perceived "dangers of overly theatrical performances, the unwarranted expense of elaborate ceremonies and enormous pipe organs and the uselessness of text unintelligible to the common man." The urge for reform in these areas created two main schools of thought: One which adhered to the regulative principle of worship music, and one which followed the normative principle, with the latter becoming far more prevalent as time progressed. The dissension between these two groups led to stark contrasts in worship practices.
Emergence of Protestant church music
Normative principle of worship, and Martin Luther
The normative principle provides an elastic interpretation to the Bible and God's intention about worship music, claiming: “What the Scripture forbids not, it allows; and what it allows is not unlawful; and what is not unlawful may lawfully be done." This doctrine gave its followers great artistic and creative freedom in organizing worship services and composing hymns. Normative principlists often incorporated organ and other instruments into church music, and were not as stringent as regulative principlists on restricting the combination of various mediums of worship.
The most notable follower of the normative principle was Martin Luther. Being a friar, Luther's life was steeped in the musical traditions of Roman chant and he had a deep love for music as a singer, lutenist, and composer. Luther would make use of his musical skills to become a tool for promoting the teaching reforms of the Reformation. Luther strongly supported worship music and emphasized its importance in the church, and was once witnessed remarking:
Luther's hymns date from 1523 to 1543. The earliest Lutheran hymnal was the Achtliederbuch or First Lutheran hymnal of 1524, with eight hymns by Luther and by Paul Speratus. Luther wrote 37 hymns which survive today, though he perhaps wrote additional texts which were passed around informally. Well known of Luther's hymns, and still in use, are "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (Savior of the Nations, Come), Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come), "Christ lag in Todesbanden" (Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands), "Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott" (Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord), "Wir glauben all an einen Gott" (We All Believe in One True God), "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin" (In Peace and Joy I Now Depart), "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God), "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort" (Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word), "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir" (Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee), "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist" (We now implore God the Holy Ghost) and "Vater unser im Himmelreich" (Our Father, Thou in Heaven Above). These and many of the other hymns by Luther would constitute the base of many chorale-based compositions by Schütz, Bach, Brahms, and others. Luther built on traditional hymns in words and melodies, Latin chants, German songs, secular and sacred folk songs, and hymns from the Bohemian community. Claims that some of Luther's hymns were based on bar tunes or drinking songs perhaps expounded from the use of popular tunes in his hymns, and from later musical terminology that referred to many of these hymns as being in bar form. However, there is no evidence that actual drinking songs were used as hymn tunes.