Hymns of the Reformation: “Salvation Unto Us Has Come”

Buxtehude + Bach + Brahms

 Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone / And rests in Him unceasing.

​—Paul Speratus (1484–1551)
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The text of the hymn “Salvation Unto Us Has Come” hails from Paul Speratus. In a progression that is remarkably similar to Luther’s life, Speratus was forced to leave two parishes in Roman Catholic territories for preaching the right doctrine of justification by grace through faith in Christ. He received his doctorate from a major university and later became one of the first priests to openly marry. Speratus was condemned by the Catholic faculty at Vienna, imprisoned for a time under King Ludwig, and in 1523 came to Wittenberg, where he assisted in the preparation of the first Lutheran hymnal. It is no surprise, then, that the first Lutheran hymnal, the Achtliederbuch (“Eight Song Book”), contains the earliest hymns of both Luther and Speratus.

The hymn was originally written in fourteen stanzas, but generally appears in ten stanzas in modern hymnals. In a day when hymns had theological descriptions at the top of the page, this hymn was headed “A Hymn of Law and Faith, Powerfully Furnished with God’s Word.” It has also been called “the true confessional hymn of the Reformation” and “the poetic counterpart of Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans” (The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal, p. 271). The Lutheran Hymnal, building on the connection to Romans and its importance for the Reformation, cites the entirety of Romans 3—6 as the primary scriptural foundation for the hymn. Lutheran Service Book (#555) sharpens the focus to Romans 3:10–31 and 5:1–11, along with Galatians 3:1–25 and Ephesians 2:1–10, all of which are foundational to the Reformation doctrine of justification. The tune wedded to the text is believed to have originally been sung to an Easter hymn, but it has long since found a permanent home with Speratus’ hymn, as the following musical settings demonstrate.
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I. Chorale Prelude
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Dietrich Buxtehude (1637–1707) was employed as an organist for the last 50 years of life, in Helsingborg (1657–1658) and Helsingør (1660–1668) in Denmark, and finally at the Marienkirche Lübeck (1668–1707) in Germany. The Marienkirche had two organs, a large one for major services and a small one for devotionals and funerals. His output of sacred music is nothing short of phenomenal, both in its quantity and its quality, including several works intended for large and small pipe organs. The following setting of the hymn at hand (BuxWV 186), probably intended for the smaller pipe organ, is a chorale prelude, i.e., an instrumental setting based on the hymn, with an elongated melody, augmented by accompaniment material in the other voices. This is but one of thousands of chorale preludes in the Lutheran repertoire for organ that should fill the shelves of the organists and the ears of the hearers, as the reader will notice in the quality of this work.
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II. Baroque Cantata
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In 1705, J. S. Bach (1685–1750), still too young to purchase alcohol by modern standards, took a month off to walk 250 miles to Lübeck to meet Buxtehude, “an extraordinary artist and role model, not just a distinguished organist or composer of oratorios” (Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, p. 96). Following Buxtehude’s precedent, Bach wrote several “chorale cantatas,” i.e., works of about 20–25 minutes of sacred music for choir and orchestra, based on the chorale appointed as the Hymn of the Day. The full Cantata (BWV 9) includes the first and last stanza of Speratus’ hymn, with intermittent sections closely paraphrasing the hymn. In the following video of the opening movement, notice how the flute and oboe (please see the top two lines of the score) enjoy playful and buoyant counterpoint. The sopranos sing the melody (elongated), with accompaniment material in the other three voices. And the creative use of a lively ¾ meter seems to depict the joy of those who are secure in their salvation through faith in Christ alone.
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Salvation unto us has come / By God’s free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom, They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one redeemer. (TLH 377.1) 
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III. Romantic Motet
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Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) composed a handful of motets in his lifetime, which we will explore in future installments of this column. In keeping with the legacy of the traditional musical form of the motet (from French mot, “word”), Brahms pays careful attention to each line of the text and paints the text accordingly. The first minute or so of the following performance is his harmonization of stanza 1 of the hymn in five parts. The harmony is richer than that found in most hymnal, albeit with a slower tempo to accommodate the harmonic progression and the 8th notes in the lower voices. At 00:55, creativity takes over and the inventive mind of the composer paints the text in rather profound ways. I invite you to follow the chart that I have prepared, along with my own rather literal translation of the hymn. Notice how the main theme changes for each line of the text (follow the times in the left column) and paints the text as it is sung by each of the five voices. The last phrases brings the work to a peaceful close, perhaps suggesting the peace that attends those who trust in the one Mediator, Jesus Christ. 

00:00     Chorale, stanza 1
00:55     Es ist das Heil uns kommen her / Now is salvation to us come here
1:35       Von gnad’ und lauter Güte / Of grace and sheer kindness
2:07       Die Werke helfen nimmermehr, / Works, they avail no more,
2:47       Sie mögen nicht behüten. / They cannot make us secure.
3:22       Der Glaub’ sieht Jesum Christum an / Faith looks to Jesus Christ
3:50       Der hat g'nug für uns all getan, / He has enough for all accomplished,
4:09       Er ist der Mittler worden. / Has become the Mediator.

The three “B’s” explored so far – Buxtehude, Bach, and Brahms – deliver the text to the hearer in three different ways. Buxtehude provides an extended melody without words, fitting as a prelude to Lutheran worship. Bach offers an extended choral setting of stanza 1, painted with jubilant joy in Baroque textures. Brahms takes a more romantic approach, with rich harmonies, chromatic lines, and challenging vocal acrobatics. That such prominent composers (among others) would take this hymn in hand and apply their talents to its longevity is itself a reliable indicator of the worth and dignity of one of the first Lutheran hymns.

IV. Congregational Hymn

But even more important than these challenging settings of “Salvation Unto Us Has Come” is the vernacular, congregational singing of this hymn by the faithful Sons of the Reformation. In the following live recording from a youth gathering, listen to the vibrant organ playing, which is constantly sensitive to the text and paints it accordingly. It is not without significance that this congregational setting is the only one of the four in this column that retains the rhythmic vitality of the original hymn tune as it appeared in the 1520’s. Indeed, it is a unique feature of the Lutheran tradition that all other musical forms of a hymn are secondary and subordinate to the congregational singing that you are about to hear.

​Using the ten-stanza version in Lutheran Service Book (#555) from this video as a go-by, one can easily see why “Salvation Unto Us Has Come” has secured a permanent place in the core hymnody of the Reformation. Here the faithful are given voice to proclaim the fullness of the Law for the sake of the comfort of the Gospel. Salvation has come down to us as God’s free gift (st. 1), for we poor sinners could not keep the Law of God (st. 2). Indeed, the fantasy that we could have our best life now is an expression of the sinner turned in on himself, for “so deep is our corruption” (st. 4).

But Christ came to fulfill the Law for us by His active obedience (st. 5) and atonement (st. 6). Therefore, the baptized trust not in themselves, but in Christ (st. 7) for life and salvation. To be sure, the Law is still a necessary dynamic of the Christ life because it is the schoolmaster to bring us to repentance (st. 8). But “Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone / And rests in Him unceasing” (st. 9), for which the faithful can only lift a high and holy doxology “To Father, Son, and Spirit” (st. 10).

Grant this, Lord, unto us all!